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LINCOLN  ROOM 

UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 
LIBRARY 


MEMORIAL 

the  Class  of  1901 

'  founded  by 

HARLAN  HOYT  HORNER 

and 

HENRIETTA  CALHOUN  HORNER 


MMJIU^ 


ENOWNED 


•CHICAGO- 
THE  MADISON  BOOK  CO' 

•PublisKcr** 


Copyright,  I'iXj'S 

BY 

L.  G.  STAHL. 


l(cU 


F^J^^si^    I. 


GEORGE    WASHINGTON 


THE  FATHER  OF  HIS  COUNTRY 


Broad-minded,  higher-souled,  there  is  but  one 

Who  was  all  this  and  ours,  and  all  men's — Washington. 

— Lowell. 

i  ^•j  OING  down  the  Potomac  river  by  steamer  from  Washington 
I  '^TT  to  Norfolk,  the  most  interesting  sight  by  the  way,  if  you 
V_-J~-  have  a  gleam  of  historical  imagination,  is  Mount  Vernon, 
associated  as  it  is  with  so  much  that  is  tender  and  beautiful  in  the 
domestic  life  of  Washington,  and  hallowed  as  the  place  of  his  burial. 
Though  he  spent  many  sorrowful  years  away  from  it  in  the  service  of 
his  country,  this  was  the  home  to  which  his  heart  fondly  turned  through 
all  the  years  of  his  manhood. 

A  few  miles  below  Mount  Vernon  you  will  begin  to  strain  your 
eyes  for  another  spot,  dear  to  every  American,  the  place  where 
Washington  was  born.  It  is  now  more  than  a  century  and  a  half 
since  it  ceased  to  be  his  home,  and  the  house  has  entirely  disap- 
peared, but  a  few  old-fashioned  garden  shrubs  and  one  or  two  leafless 
fig-trees  suggest  the  spot  where  Washington  was  once  a  child  and 
enable  us  to  rebuild  in  fancy  the  home  in  which  the  greatest  of  Amer- 
icans found  birth.  The  house  was  a  low,  one-story  frame  building 
with  four  rooms  below  and  an  old-fashioned  attic  under  the  steep 
roof.     The  site  is  marked  by  a  small  stone  tablet. 

Here  George  Washington  was  born,  February  22,  1732,  one 
year  before  Georgia,  the  youngest  of  the  thirteen  colonies  which  he 
was  to  unite  into  a  nation,  was  settled. 


GEORGE   WASHINGTON 

He  showed  his  characteristic  good  judgment  in  his  choice  of 
parents.  His  father,  Augustine  Washington,  was  a  man  of  high 
character.     His  mother,  whose  maiden  name  was  Mary  Ball,  was  an 


,T-T  'fi- 


\ 


_,         / 


jH  ^%  t\ 


*«"ffc- 


intelligent   and  "" 
beautiful  woman, 
worthy    in    every 
respect    of     the 
honor  which  George 
Washington  paid  her     ;;-= 
when  he  became  her 
son.    George  was  his 
mother's  eldest  boy, 
but   there   were  two 
older     half-brothers,     mount  vernon  and  the  tomb  of  Washington. 
Lawrence    and   Au- 
gustine,   Mary    Ball   having  been    a  second   wife.      Three    younger 
brothers  and   two  sisters  came  in  the   course  of  a  few  years  to  com- 
plete the  family. 


-k^ 


THE  FATHER  OF  HIS  COUNTRY. 


When  George  was  still  a  very  young  child,  the  Washington 
family  removed  to  an  estate  near  Fredericksburg,  on  the  Rappahan- 
nock river.  The  house,  like  the  one  on  the  Potomac,  has  long  since 
tumbled  to  ruins.  Here  his  father  died  when  George  was  about 
eleven  years  old.  It  is  probable  that  the  training  which  he  had  given 
his  son  had  done  much  to  start  him  in  the  right  direction  and  make 
him  the  great  man  ^ 

he  came  to  be.  The  ^^^^  ^j-     '' 

story  of  the  cherry 
tree  and  others  of 
its  kind  are  not  now 
generally  believed 
by  scholars.  It 
would  be  a  great 
pity  to  give  them 
up,  but  it  would  be 
a  still  greater  pity 
to  make  sport  of 
them,  as  some  peo- 
ple are  fond  of 
doing;  for  if  they 
are  not  literally 
true,  still  they  are 
true  in  a  very  high 
and  noble  sense, 
much  as  the  para- 
bles of  the  Bible 
are  true,  although 
the  actual  events 
which  they  record  may  never  have  taken  place.  The  story  of 
the  cherry  tree  proves  the  belief  of  Augustine  Washington's  neigh- 
bors that  he  was  a  man  who  placed  a  high  regard  upon  truth  and 
truth-telling.  It  shows  that,  in  the  opinion  of  those  who  knew 
him  best,  he  trained  his  son  to  that  high  ideal,  and  that  the  son, 
even  at  that  tender  age,  had  begun  to  show  the  results  of  his 
training. 

Mary  Ball  had  been  a  beauty  and  a  belle  in  her  girlhood.     She 


GEORGE  WASHINGTON  AND  THE  HATCHET. 


GEORGE    WASHINGTON 

became  a  woman  fit  to  be  trusted  with  the  education  of  a  boy  whom 
the  country  would  need  for  high  uses  by  and  by. 

Augustine  Washington  was  a  rich  man,  according  to  the  ideas  of 
his  time.  He  willed  the  farm  on  the  Rappahannock  to  his  son 
George.  Mount  Vernon  he  left  to  his  eldest  son,  Lawrence,  who  died 
young,  and,  after  the  early  death  of  his  daughter,  Mount  Vernon 
passed  to  George.  The  farm  on  the  Rappahannock  remained  the 
family  home  during  all  of  George's  boyhood. 

It  often  seems  as  if  it  were  an  advantage  to  a  boy  to  be  born 
poor.  Many  of  our  Presidents  and  other  famous  men  and  women 
have  begun  life  under  very  hard  circumstances  and  have  had  to  fight 
poverty  through  many  weary  years.  This  sometimes  makes  it  seem 
as  if  it  required  poverty  and  hardship  to  make  a  great  man.  This 
advantage  George  Washington  did  not  have,  and  it  was  given  him  to 
prove  that  a  rich  boy  as  well  as  a  poor  one  may  rise  to  high  places  and 
fill  them  nobly.  ' '  A  man  may  live  nobly  though  in  a  palace, "  said  the 
old  Roman  Emperor,  Marcus  Aurelius.  Washington's  opportunities 
were  of  a  very  different  kind  from  those  of  Lincoln,  but  no  one  can 
find  much  fault  with  the  result  in  either  case.  Perhaps  any  kind  of 
circumstances  may  be  an  advantage  to  a  boy  if  he  is  only  the  right 
kind  of  boy  to  begin  with. 

There  were  few  schools  in  those  early  days  in  Virginia,  and  the 
Washington  children  were  taught  mainly  at  home.  We  read  of  a 
number  of  different  tutors  who  had  charge  of  George's  education  at 
different  times.  He  seems  to  have  been  careful  and  painstaking  in 
all  his  work,  as  is  shown  by  his  copybooks  and  other  exercises,  many 
of  which  have  been  preserved.  When  he  was  about  thirteen  he 
wrote  out  a  hundred  and  ten  sayings,  which  he  called  ' '  Rules  of 
Courtesy  and  Decent  Behavior  in  Company  and  Conversation." 
Where  he  obtained  these  rules  is  not  known.  Many  of  them  are 
written  in  boyish  language,  and  some  have  therefore  thought  them 
his  own  composition  ;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  others  seem  over  wise 
and  old  for  a  boy  of  his  age.  This,  however,  might  have  been  due 
to  the  character  of  his  reading  and  companions.  His  mother  often 
read  to  him  from  a  serious  and  thoughtful  book  called  ' '  Contempla- 
tions, Moral  and  Divine,  by  Sir  Matthew  Hale. "  He  spent  a  great 
deal  of  his  time  with  Lord  Fairfax,  a  distant  relative,  a  man  of  fine 


THE  FATHER  OF  HIS  COUNTRY. 

education,  who  wrote  well  and  had  been  the  friend  of  Addison,  a 
great  master  of  the  Enghsh  language.  He  was  very  fond  of  George, 
and  took  a  deep  interest  in  his  education.     Perhaps  it  was  from  this 


GOOD    BYE    MY   SON,    GOD   BLESS   YOU. 

friend  that  Washington  learned  that  exact  use  of  English  which 
enabled  him  in  later  life  to  express  whatever  he  had  in  mind  in  the 
clearest  way.     It  seems  a  httle  strange  that  he  was  not  given  the 


GEORGE    WASHINGTON 

advantages  of  a  college  training.  He  never  became  a  man  of  great 
learning.  But  he  was  thoroughly  at  home  in  the  branches  of  a  com- 
mon English  education,  and  read  many  of  the  best  books. 

It  was  early  settled  in  the  Washington  family  that  George  was 
to  make  his  own  way  in  life  just  as  if  he  had  no  property.  Indeed, 
neither  he  nor  any  one  else  seems  ever  to  have  thought  of  anything 
different. 

When  he  was  about  fourteen  years  of  age  he  began  to  have  a 
longing  for  a  sailor's  life,  and  for  a  time  his  mother  thought  seriously 
of  permitting  him  to  go  to  sea.  There  is  a  pretty  story  to  the  effect 
that  he  was  about  to  start,  and  that  his  trunk  had  been  sent  on  board 
ship,  when,  finding  his  mother  in  tears,  he  resolved  to  abandon  his 
plan  and  ordered  his  trunk  recalled.  The  truth  is  that  Mrs.  Wash- 
ington was  advised  by  her  brother  against  this  course,  and  withdrew 
her  consent.  This  again  does  not  destroy  the  tradition,  but  simply 
gives  it  point.  The  story  would  never  have  been  thought  of  in  con- 
nection with  a  boy  who  was  not  kind  and  obedient  to  his  mother,  and 
it  would  not  have  been  believed  and  repeated  if  it  had  not  fitted  the 
character  of  the  boy.  Whenever  in  the  interest  of  truth  we  have  to 
throw  a  story  away,  it  will  be  worth  while  to  look  behind  it  and  see 
if  it  does  not  mean  something  that  is  really  worth  saving. 

It  was  not  more  than  a  year  after  this  that  he  became  acquainted 
with  a  young  lady  whom  he  called  ' '  The  Lowland  Beauty, "  to  whom 
he  addressed  some  rather  poor  poetry.  Here  are  some  sample  lines 
chosen  at  random,  and  copied  exactly,  capitals  and  all  : 

*'  Oh,  ye  Gods  why  should  my  Poor  Resistless  Heart 
Stand  to  oppose  thy  might  and  Power 
At  Last  surrender  to  cupid's  feather'd  Dart, 
And  now  lays  Bleeding  every  Hour." 

If  you  would  like  to  see  the  rest  of  it,  you  will  find  it  in  Edward 
Everett  Hale's  Life  of  George  Washington.  He  was  very  wretched 
about  this  time,  and  thought  he  should  never  be  happy  again.  It  is 
surprising  to  find  that  he  afterwards  met  several  other  young  ladies 
whom  he  greatly  admired,  and  that  he  at  a  still  later  period  became 
very  much  attached  to  another  beautiful  woman  and  married  her. 
But,  of  course,  George  Washington  was  different  from  other  young 


THE  FATHER  OF  HIS  COUNTRY. 

men.  A  young  person  of  our  day  would  never  recover  from  such  a 
blow.  Besides,  the  poetry  helped  to  make  him  less  "miserable.  The 
writing  of  poetry  is  a  kind  of  lightning-rod,  a  harmless  conductor  of 
emotions  which  might  otherwise  rend  and  torture  the  young  soul.  It 
is  not  certainly  known  who  "The  Lowland  Beauty"  was,  but  it  is 
believed  that  she  was  the  lady  who  afterwards  married  Richard 
Henry  Lee,  one  of  the  signers  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence. 
If  this  is  true,  she  had  the  good  fortune  to  become  the  mother  of  the 
gallant  and  dashing  "Light-Horse  Harry,"  of  Revolutionary  fame, 
and  now  still  further  famous  as  the  father  of  General  Robert  E. 
Lee. 

Washington  had  still  other  resources  in  his  trouble,  hard  work 
and  hard  fare,  for  he  began  soon  after  this  to  study  and  practice 
surveying.  He  learned  his  business  so  well  that  he  was  made  sur- 
veyor of  Culpepper  County,  Virginia,  when  he  was  only  seventeen 
years  old.  He  did  his  work  of  surveying  the  county  so  well  that  later 
surveyors  have  not  had  to  do  it  over  again. 

And  now  we  begin  to  come  upon  stirring  times. 

The  French  and  English  both  claimed  the  land  west  of  the  Alle- 
ghany mountains,  and  the  French  were  beginning  to  build  forts  in 
the  valley  of  the  Ohio.  The  English  regarded  this  as  trespassing  on 
their  property,  and  Governor  Dinwiddie,  of  Virginia,  decided  to 
send  a  messenger  to  find  out  what  the  French  intended  to  do.  He 
wanted  the  bravest  and  wisest  man  he  could  find  for  this  expedition. 
He  chose  Gecrrge  Washington,  then  a  youth  of  twenty-one  years, 
who  was  afterwards  ^spoken  of  by  Thomas  Carlyle  in  his  ' '  Life  of 
Frederick  the  Great, "  as  "a  steady-going,  considerate,  close-mouthed 
young  gentleman,  who  came  to  great  distinction  in  the  end."  It  was 
a  dangerous  journey  of  eight  or  nine  hundred  miles,  through  a  wilder- 
ness full  of  hostile  Indians,  in  the  depth  of  winter.  He  started  out 
with  seven  companions,  accomplished  his  mission  and  returned  home 
in  safety  after  three  months  of  terrible  hardship.  "From  that 
moment, "  says  Washington  Irving,  who  has  written  a  charming  life 
of  Washington,    "he  was  the  rising  boy  of  Virginia." 

The  time  had  now  come  when  the  question  whether  the  French 
or  the  English  were  to  rule  this  continent  must  be  settled.  It  took 
the  "  Seven  Years'  War  "  to  decide  it.      In  this  war  George  Washing- 


GEORGE  WASHINGTON 


ton  gave  the  first  command  and  fired  the  first  bullet.  In  writing  an 
account  of  a  skirmish  in  which  he  had  been  engaged,  he  said,  "The 
whistle  of  bullets  was  like  music."  This  account  reached  England, 
and  the  king  was  inclined  to  make   sport  of   it,  saying,    "If  he  had 

heard  more 
he  would 
not  have 
thought  so. " 

Years  after, 
when  some- 

0  n  e  asked 
him  if  he 
had  ever 
made  such 
a  remark, 
Washington 
replied,    "If 

1  did  so,  it 
must  have 
been  when 
I  was  very 
voung. " 

He  bore 
an  active 
and  honor- 
able part 
throughout 
the  entire 
vvar.  Before 
it  ended  he 
_^^  .-^    .^^^,^  -^  had     met 

WASHINGTON   AND   HIS   MEN    HUNTING   INDIAN   TRACKS.  MrS, Martha 

C  u  s  1 1  s,  a 
young  Virginian  widow  of  much  beauty  and  many  accompHshments, 
and  had  engaged  himself  to  marry  her.  The  marriage  took  place 
as  soon  as  peace  was  restored  and  the  French  had  gone  over  the  sea, 
and  Washington  settled  down  at  Mt.  Vernon,  which  had  now  become 


^ 
/ 


* 
1 


THE  FATHER  OP  HIS  COUNTRY, 

his  property,  to  the  quiet  hfe  of  a  southern  planter.  This  was  to  last 
until  the  next  great  war.  But  his  state  could  not  give  up  his  services 
entirely  during  those  years  of  peace.  Every  year  for  fifteen  years 
he  was  sent  to  the  Virginia  assembly  to  help  make  the  laws.     At  the 


MARTHA   WASHINGTON. 


first  meeting  of  the  assembly  after  peace  had  been  made,  Mr.  Robin- 
son, the  Speaker  of  the  House,  made  a  speech  in  which  he*  thanked 
Washington  for  his  services  during  the  war.  It  was  unexpected,  and 
the  young  soldier  was  embarrassed.     He  stammered  and  blushed,  but 


GEORGE  WASHINGTON 

said   nothing.       '<Sit   down,    Mr.    Washington."    said   the   speaker. 
• «  Your  modesty  is  equal  to  your  valor,  and  that  surpasses  the  power 


HOUSE   IN   PHILADELPHIA   WHERE    FIRST   CONGRESS   MET. 


of  any  language  that  I  possess."     He  was  by  nature  a  man  of  action 
rather  than  a  man  of  words.     Yet  he  persevered  in  public  speakmg, 


THE  FATHER  OF  HIS  COUNTRY. 

and  long  before  the  fifteen  years  of  peace  were  over,  he  had  become  a 
powerful  speaker. 


TREE   UNDER   WHICH   WASHINGTON   TOOK   COMMAND   OF   THE   ARMY. 


Meantime,  trouble  was  brewing  between  England  and  her  colo- 
nies. The  second  Continental  Congress  came  together  at  Philadel- 
phia in  May,  1775,  to  provide  ways  and  means  of  resisting  tyranny. 


*•  GEORGE  WASHINGTON- 

The  battle  of  Lexington  had  already  taken  place.  Many  great 
speeches  were  made.  Washington  said  little,  but  he  came  every  day 
and  wore  the  uniform  which  he  had  cast  aside  sixteen  years  ago. 
Perhaps  that  was  the  greatest  war  speech  that  was  made.  And  when 
they  wanted  a  commander-in-chief,  the  choice  of  nearly  everybody, 
except  two  men  who  wanted  the  position  themselves,  was  Washing- 
ton. He  received  the  trust  with  much  modesty  and  a  painful  sense 
of  responsibility,  saying  in  his  speech  of  acceptance,  ' '  I  beg  it  may 
be  remembered  by  every  gentleman  in  this  room  that  I  this  day  de- 
clare^  with  the  utmost  sincerity,  I  do  not  think  myself  equal  to  the 
command  I  am  honored  with."  He  took  command  of  the  army 
under  the  famous  elm  at  Cambridge.  This  tree  is  greatly  treasured 
by  the  people  of  Cambridge.  It  is  believed  that  it  is  three  hundred 
years  old.  A  stone  tablet  has  been  placed  beneath  it,  bearing  the 
inscription:  "Under  this  tree  Washington  first  took  command  of 
the  American  army,  July  3,  1775."  A  year  and  a  day  from  this  event 
Congress  adopted  the  Declaration  of  Independence. 

At  Cambridge,  Washington  had  his  headquarters  in  the  now 
celebrated  Craigie  house,  since  then  the  home  of  the  poet  Longfellow 
for  many  years,  and  now  owned  and  occupied  by  his  daughter.  Miss 
Alice  Longfellow.  Mrs.  Washington  came  and  spent  the  winter  here, 
doing  much  by  her  cheerful  presence  and  the  social  entertainments 
which  she  provided  to  keep  up  the  courage  of  General  Washington 
and  his  officers. 

It  is  hard  for  us  to  imagine  the  difficulties  against  which  Wash- 
ington had  to  struggle.  The  army  which  was  given  him  at  Cambridge 
was  small  and  untrained,  and  he  had  very  little  ammunition.  It  is 
said  that  at  one  time  he  had  but  nine  rounds  for  each  of  his  men. 
He  had  to  send  as  far  as  to  the  Bahamas  and  Bermudas  for  powder, 
and  he  was  forced  to  do  this  secretly  because  he  did  not  wish  either  the 
Americans  or  the  British  to  know  how  little  he  had.  The  next 
spring  he  drove  the  British  out  of  Boston,  but  after  that  he  tried  to 
keep  out  of  battle  until  he  should  be  strong  enough  to  meet  the 
enemy.  For  several  years  he  did  more  planning  than  fighting.  He 
was  so  cautious  that  he  was  called  the  American  Fabius,  after  that 
Roman  Fabius  who  led  the  Carthaginians  hither  and  yon  for  fifteen 
years  in  Italy  while  he    "hung  on  the  heights  like  a  thundercloud," 


THE  FATHER  OF  HIS  COUNTRY. 

avoiding  battle  but  harassing  the  enemy  and  giving  Rome  an  oppor- 
tunity to  get  her  forces  together  for  the  great  struggle. 

But  some  of  the  people  began  to  find  fault  with  Washington  for 
this  cautious  policy.  That  was  during  the  terrible  winter  which  he 
spent  with  his  army  at  Valley  Forge.  His  men  were  hungry  and 
without  sufficient  clothing.      Some  were  bareheaded  and  barefooted 


WASHINGTON    AND    HIS    MEN    AT   VALLEY   FORGE. 


and  made  a  path  in  the  snow  with  their  bleeding  feet  as  they  walked. 
The  paper  money  with  which  Congress  was  obliged  to  pay  the 
soldiers  was  so  nearly  worthless  that  six  months'  pay  would  scarcely 
buy  a  soldier  a  pair  of  boots.  There  was  a  cabal,  or  ring,  in  Con- 
gress to  remove  Washington  from  command,  and  put  General  Gates, 
an  unprincipled  man  without  the  slightest  military  ability,  in  his  place. 


GEORGE  WASHINGTON 


It  was  hard  for  Washington  to  see  his  men  starving  and  dying  of 
cold  and  hardship.  He  saw  a  great  many  dark  hours  during  that 
winter,  but  he  never  doubted  the  right  would  win. 


SURRENDER   OF   BURGOYNE. 


The  next  year,  things  began  to  look  brighter.  Already  Bur- 
goyne's  large  army  had  been  conquered  at  the  battle  of  Saratoga,  the 
great  battle  of  the  war,  and  one  of  the  greatest  conflicts  of  history. 
And  although  Washington  was  not  present  at  the  battle,   yet  by 


THE  FATHER  OF  HIS  COUNTRY. 

keeping  another  great  British  army  from  going  to  the  aid  of  Burgoyne, 
he  did  more  than  anyone  else  to  bring  about  a  British  defeat. 

The  next  year,  in  consequence  of  the  efforts  of  Benjamm 
Frankhn,  France  came  to  our  aid.  This  brought  great  encourage- 
ment, if  not  a  great  amount  of  actual  military  assistance.  After  that 
there  was   no  question  which  way  events  would  turn,    and  if    King 


-^ 


WASHINGTON  AT  VALLEY  FORGE  READING  A  LETTER. 


George  III.  had  been  a  little  wiser  or  his  advisers  a  little  stronger,  the 
war  would  have  ended  then  and  many  lives  would  have  been  saved. 
As  it  was,  the  war  lagged  on  until  the  siege  of  Yorktown,  in  1781, 
and  peace  was  not  formally  declared  until  1783. 

During  the  later  years  of  the  war,  the  public  confidence  in 
Washington  was  completely  restored.  He  was  now  everywhere 
regarded  as  the  savior  of  his  country.     The  wish  was  expressed  by 


GEORGE  WASHINGTON 

some  that  he  should  become  king  of  the  country  he  had  freed  from 
foreign  control,  but  Washington  indignantly  rejected  the  idea. 

As  soon  as  possible  he  bade  a  kind  farewell  to  his  officers  and 
soldiers,  and  retired  once  more  to  Mount  Vernon,  which  he  had 
visited  but  once  in  more  than  eight  years. 


MOUNT   VERNON. 

He  spent  the  next  five  years  in  managing  his  neglected  estates 
and  enjoying  the  free  life  of  the  country,  entertaining  a  great  number 
of  guests  with  generous  Southern  hospitality.  He  hoped  that  he 
might  never  have  to  leave  his  home  again  for  public  duties,  but  the 
people  could  not  spare  him  yet. 

In  1787  he  was  made  President  of  the  Convention  which  met  in 
Philadelphia,   and  drew  up    the    Constitution  under  which  we  now 


THE  FATHER  OF  HIS  COUNTRY. 

live.  It  was  a  trying  place  and  he  filled  it  with  great  wisdom.  He 
was  twice  elected  President  by  the  unanimous  voice  of  the  people, 
and  would  have  been  chosen  the  third  time  if  he  had  consented.  At 
the  close  of  his  second  term  of  office  the  love  of  the  entire  people 
again  followed  him  to  Mount  Vernon. 

Even  this  time  he  was  not  allowed  a  long  quiet.  Troubles  arose 
with  France  and  war  was  feared.  This  was  in  1 798.  Washington 
was  again  made  commander-in-chief  of  the  army.  But  this  time  the 
war-cloud  passed  over,  and  he  was  saved  the  strain  of  another 
campaign. 

In  the  last  month  of  the  last  year  of  the  century,  Washington 
was  stricken  with  his  last  illness.  He  had  been  riding  all  day  on  his 
estate.  The  day  was  snowy  and  cold.  He  reached  home  about 
three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon.  He  would  not  allow  a  servant  to  be 
sent  out  on  an  errand,  saying  the  day  was  too  bad,  but  appeared  to 
take  no  notice  of  his  own  exposure.  The  next  day  he  found  that  he 
had  taken  cold,  but  was  able  to  walk  out  in  the  grounds  in  the  after- 
noon. He  failed  rapidly  and  died  the  next  day,  December  14, 
1799. 

The  story  has  been  told  that  Mrs.  Washington,  or  Lady  Wash- 
ington, as  the  people  of  her  day  loved  to  call  her,  shut  herself  up 
with  her  grief  and  never  left  her  room  after  her  husband's  death.  I 
am  glad  to  say  that  her  diaries  and  account-books  prove  the  story 
untrue.  She  was  a  woman  of  too  much  good  sense  and  conscience  to 
neglect  her  duties  to  the  living  in  her  devotion  to  the  dead.  She 
lived  until  1802. 

The  highest  honors  were  paid  to  Washington,  both  in  this 
country  and  in  Europe.  Some  of  the  greatest  men  in  the  nation 
were  called  upon  to  deliver  funeral  orations.  One  of  the  most 
remarkable  of  these  was  the  one  given  by  General  Henry  Lee.  It 
was  in  this  address  that  the  expression  was  first  used,  now  so  familiar 
to  everyone,  '  *  First  in  war,  first  in  peace,  and  first  in  the  hearts  of 
his  countrymen." 

Washington  was  a  man  of  fine  appearance  and  commanding 
presence.  He  was  six  feet  high  and  had  clear  blue  eyes  and  brown 
hair.  He  was  careful  of  his  personal  appearance,  usually  having  his 
clothes  imported  from  England.     He  has  been  accused  of  bein^^  cold 


GEORGE  WASHINGTON 

and  reserved  to  strangers.  The  truth  is  that  he  never  quite  over- 
came his  natural  shyness.  No  one  could  have  been  more  genial  and 
gracious  in  manner  than  he  when  among  his  friends.  He  was  fond 
of  young  people,  particularly  of  his  wife's  children  and  his  nephews 
and  nieces.      He  had  no  children  of  his  own. 

He  had  a  hot  temper,  but  he  kept  it  under  strong  control  except 
when  it  came  unexpectedly  and  took  him  unawares.  And  in  such 
cases  his  sense  of  justice  soon  returned.  An  instance  of  this  occurred 
at  Cambridge.  He  had  just  learned  that  most  of  the  barrels  which 
he  had  supposed  to  contain  powder,  were  really  filled  with  sand. 
They  had  been  stored  in  the  magazine  before  his  arrival  for  the  sake 
of  preventing  the  discouragement  which  would  have  followed  had  the 
soldiers  known  how  small  was  the  actual  supply  of  ammunition.  He 
sent  Colonel  Glover  to  Marblehead  for  a  new  supply.  When  he 
returned,  General  Washington  met  him  with  the  question,  "Have 
you  got  the  powder  ?  "  "  No  sir, "  was  the  reply.  Washington  burst 
into  a  terrible  rage,  and,  after  a  torrent  of  wrath,  inquired,  ' '  Why 
did  you  come  back,  sir,  without  it  ?  "  "  Sir,  there  is  not  a  kernel  of 
powder  in  Marblehead. "  The  General  was  silent  for  a  moment,  then 
reached  out  his  hand,  saying,  ' '  Colonel  Glover,  here  is  my  hand,  if 
you  will  take  it  and  forgive  me.  The  greatness  of  our  danger  made 
me  forget  what  is  due  to  you  and  to  myself. " 

Washington  was  a  great  man,  but  not  a  perfect  one.  He  had 
faults,  but  they  never  had  the  upper  hand  of  him  for  long  at  a  time, 
for  he  made  it  his  first  business  to  master  them.  We  read  in  one 
of  his  letters  that  he  had  bought  some  lottery  tickets  and  wanted  to 
know  whether  they  had  drawn  a  prize.  We  have  found  that  when 
very  much  provoked  he  sometimes  used  violent  language.  But  he 
set  a  guard  over  himself  and  almost  always  kept  his  hot  temper  under 
control.  Before  we  blame  him  too  much  for  the  few  times  when  it 
escaped  him,  we  ought  to  remember  that  most  of  the  time  he  mas- 
tered it.  Temper  is  like  lightning,  which  tears  and  destroys  when 
it  is  loose,  but,  when  it  is  harnessed,  runs  our  errands  like  an  obe- 
dient servant.  So  that  fiery  spirit  which  would  have  made  a  wreck 
of  Washington's  life  if  he  had  not  held  it  in  check,  was  a  part  of  that 
very  strength  of  character  which  helped  to  make  him  the  great  man 
he  was. 


THE  FATHER  OF  HIS  COUNTRY. 


There  was  one  reason  for  his  success  which  we  are  in  danger  of 
overlooking.  He  was  ahvays  sure  that  his  work,  whatever  it  chanced 
to  be,  was  worth  doing  just  as  well  as  he  could  possibly  do  it.  He  was 
never  afraid  of  putting  too  much  work  into  a  task  or  too  many  hours 
into  a  day.  And  that  was  just  as  true  of  him  when  he  was  surveying 
in  the  backwoods  of  Virginia  roasting  his  own  potatoes  in  the  ashes 
and  eating  them  off  of  chips  as  it  was  when  he  had, risen  to  the 
highest  place  in  the  nation.  I 
am  aware  that  a  great  many  nice 
young  ladies  and  gentlemen  who 
are  just  starting  out  in  life  to 
make  their  fortunes,  do  not  agree 
with  him  on  this  point.  At  least 
they  think  it  would  be  entirely 
out  of  place  to  ask  them  to  do 
their  work  as  faithfully  as  he  did 
his.  And  so  no  doubt  it  would 
be.  And  that  is  one  of  the 
greatest  differences  between 
them  and  Washington.  But 
they  will  never  believe  me  until 
it  is  too  late. 

Edward  Everett  Hale  has 
summed  up  so  well  the  life  and 
character  of  Washington  that  I 
will  do  you  the  favor  of  quoting 
it   here:      ' '  Few  boys,    even  of 

fifteen,  would  dare  to  say:  'I  will  very  early  in  life  compel  the  gov- 
ernment of  this  colony  to  make  me  commander  of  its  troops  ;  I 
will  win  everybody's  regard  and  admiration  as  I  command  them  ; 
I  will  inherit  a  large  fortune,  for  which  I  shall  not  have  to  work 
hard  ;  I  will  marry  the  woman  I  love  ;  she  shall  be  beautiful  and 
elegant,  and  she,  also,  shall  have  a  large  fortune.  I  will  live  in 
the  most  beautiful  place  in  America,  and  I  will  so  carry  on  my  estate 
that  it  shall  be  the  admiration  of  all  men.  I  will  be  active  in  the 
government  of  Virginia,  and  will  lead  it  step  by  step  to  higher  pros- 
perity ;  when  the  time  comes  I  will  be  unanimously  named  as  the 


GEORGE   WASHINGTON. 


GEORGE  WASHINGTON 

commander  of  the  armies  of  my  country.  In  a  war,  serious  enough 
to  test  every  quaHty,  I,  of  all  men,  shall  be  the  only  man  to  hold 
any  ofhce  of  authority,  and  I  will  achieve  the  reputation  of  the  first 
soldier  of  my  time,  and  I  will  be  made  the  ruler  of  the  nation  which 
I  have  created,  and  I  will  fill  this  place  as  long  as  I  choose,  to  die 
honored  of  all  men.'  Such  a  dream  on  the  part  of  a  boy  of  fifteen 
would  have  seemed  absurd  enough,  and  yet  this  is  precisely  what 
happened  to  this  young  Virginian. " 


one' SIXTH  OFA  SPANISH 
MilLU  DaUar.'orlhcVallw 
thereof  C^  GofdorSilver 
/o^tf  given  in.  exchange  at 

Tr  e  a  s  u  ry  o£  ViR  GINIA, 

Tursuatri  to    iV  C  T     oj 

ASSE'MBX.Y 


ONE   SIXTML 
OFADOIiLAR 


KMiDEATH  TO 
QiUCOUNTERrElT 


VIRGINIA  C  URKETjCYj^ 


ABRAHAM    LINCOLN 


THE  ILLINOIS  RAIL-SPLITTER. 


ij^" 


Our  children    shall    behold    his 
fame, 
The     kindly-earnest,      brave, 
foreseeing  man, 
Sagacious,      patient,       dreading 

praise,  not  blame, 
New  birth  of   our   new  soil,  the 
first  American. 
— James  Russell  Lowell. 


tOUNG    people   usually  have    a 
merry   time  on  the   14th    day 
of   February,    celebrating    the 
birthday  of  St.  Valentine,  who  was  born 
across  the  water  so  many  hundred  years 
ago  that  we  do  not  know  much  about  his 
good  deeds,    and  scarcely  anybody   now     '<^ 
knows   why    he  is  called  a    saint.       But 
two  days  before,  on  the  12  th  of  February, 
we  do   something    even  better.     For  now  we  have 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 


a  newer  saint  than  St.  Valentine,  whom  some  of  us  have 
learned  to  call  St,  Lincoln,  though  his  first  name  was  Abraham  and 
he  never  thought  of  being  a  saint  at  all.  But  you  know  how  every 
year,  when  his  birthday  comes,  we  all,  large  and  little,  love  to  wave 
flags  and  make  speeches,  speak  pieces  and  sing  songs  because  Lincoln 
was    born.      And   the   most  ignorant   one   amongst   us  ought   to  be 

^  ^  able    to   tell    why. 

""^^  "St.   Lincoln"  be- 

gan by  being  just 
a  common  baby, 
not  a  bit  more  cun- 
ning than  your  own 
httle  brothers  and 
sisters,  and  when 
he  lay  in  his  wood- 
en cradle,  sucking 
his  pink  fist,  he  did 
not  look  any  more 
like  a  President, 
with  a  carriage  and 
four  horses  and  a 
procession  behind 
him  than  you  or  I 
this  minute.  The 
first  time  he  woke 
up  and  cried,  he 
was  in  a  little  old 
log    cabin    in    La 


^-^fe??; 


LINCOLN'S    BABYHOOD. 


Rue  County,  Ken- 
tucky. This  century  was  just  nine  years  old  then,  and  I  suppose 
that  fact  always  helped  him  to  lemember  how  old  he  was.  There 
were  wide  cracks  between  the  logs  in  the  cabin,  and  the  snow  some- 
times came  saiHng  softly  down  through  the  rickety  roof,  so  that  he 
did  not  have  to  read  the  morning  paper  or  even  look  out  of  the 
window  to  find  out  what  the  weather  was.  His  father,  Thomas 
Lincoln,  I  am  sorry  to  say,  was  rather  a  lazy,  shiftless  man,  so  much 
so  that  his  neighbors  called  him  Tom,  even  when  he  was  quite  an 


THE  ILLINOIS  RAIL-SPLITTER. 


old  gentleman.  But  I  hope  he  hustled  around  that  cold  day  and  cut 
wood  enough  to  keep  the  big  fire-place  blazing  to  keep  the  President 
warm.  His  mother's  name  was  Nancy  Hanks  Lincoln,  and  he  had 
one  little  sister,  who  was  older  than  he  was.  She  died  when  she 
was  nineteen  years  old  and  never  knew  what  a  proud  sister  she 
might  have  been. 

When  Abraham  was  about  seven  years  of  age,  he  began  to  go 
to  school.  He  did  not  have  a  nice  new  school  suit  with  knee  pants 
and  a  sailor  collar. 
He  wore  a  buck- 
skin jacket  and  a 
pair  of  buckskin 
trousers.  He  was 
barefooted,  but  he 
had  a  nice  warm 
raccoon  skin  cap 
which  his  mother 
had  made  for  him. 
His  father  found 
him  an  old  arith- 
metic and  he 
started  out.  He 
had  to  walk  a  mile 
and  a  half  to  his 
log  school-house, 
where  he  found  a 
teacher  who  did 
not  know  much 
more  about  books 
than  he  did  him- 
self. After  this  he 
went  to  two  other 

schools,  and  it  was  not  long  before  he  knew  more  than  his  teachers. 
He  never  went  to  school  more  than  a  year  in  all  his  hfe.  But  he  did 
not  stop  studying  because  there  was  no  one  to  teach  him.  On  the 
contrary,  he  studied  harder  than  ever. 

When  Abraham  was  about  eight  years  old,  his  father  made  up 


'#'5^ 


"%W3i£'' 


MOVING  TO   INDIANA. 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

his  mind  to  move  away  and  try  to  find  a  "better  country  for  poor 
people.  He  sold  his  farm  and  started  for  Indiana  to  find  a  new 
home.  When  he  had  found  a  place  in  the  woods  where  he  thought 
his  family  would  like  to  live,  he  went  back  to  get  them.  They  did 
not  travel  by  steam  cars,  because  the  first  train  in  this  country  was 
not  going  to  start  until  about  eleven  years  afterwards  and  they  did 
not  want  to  wait  for  it,   and  it  was  not  going  to   Indiana  anyway. 


THE    PROUD    POSSESSOR    UF    A    LUG    CAliiX. 


They  went  on  horseback,  the  mother  and  little  Nancy  riding  on  one 
horse.  They  had  to  pack  all  their  furniture,  and  after  that  was  done 
there  was  not  much  room  for  human  freight.  Mr.  Lincoln  walked  a 
great  deal  of  the  way.  They  had  to  cross  the  Ohio  river,  because  it 
was  nearer  than  it  would  have  been  to  go  around.  Then  this  odd- 
looking  procession  moved  on  through  the  woods,  stopping  by  night 
to  sleep  on  a  blanket  under  the  stars. 

When  they  reached  their  new  grounds,  there  was  no  house  there, 


THE  ILLINOIS  RAIL-SPLITTER. 

and  they  had  to  Hve  out  of  doors,  gypsy-fashion,  until  Mr.  Lincoln 
could  build  a  shanty.  He  cut  down  some  young  trees  and  built  a 
house  of  poles.  They  lived  in  this  about  a  year,  after  which  the 
ambitious  father  was  able  to  put  up  a  regular  log  cabin.  It  had  no 
floor.  What  was  the  use  of  taking  so  much  trouble  to  have  boards 
when  the  ground  was  there  to  walk  on  ?  There  was  no  glass  in  the 
windows,  but  oiled  paper  did  pretty  well  in  its  place.  Mr.  Lincoln 
drove  some  poles  into  the  wall,  laid  them  on  crotched  sticks  at  the 
other  end,  placed  some  boards  across  them,  and  the  bedstead  was 
ready.  Some  dried  leaves  and  blankets  over  the  boards  made  a 
glorious  bed  when  one  was  tired  enough  to  enjoy  it.  Then  he  carved 
a  table  out  of  a  big  log  and  made  some  three-legged  stools,  and  the 
house-furnishing  was  complete.     What  more  could  anyone  wish? 

If  Abraham  Lincoln's  father  was  not  exactly  the  kind  of  man  we 
should  have  selected  for  the  bringing  up  of  such  a  boy,  his  mother 
more  than  made  it  up  to  him.  She  was  a  faithful,  hard-working 
woman  and,  although  she  had  not  much  education,  she  took  great 
pains  to  teach  her  son  all  that  she  knew  herself.  There  were  three 
books  in  their  library,  the  spelling  book,  the  catechism  and  the  Bible, 
and  these  Abraham,  with  his  mother's  help,  learned  pretty  well  in  one 
winter.     But  Mrs.  Lincoln  lived  only  about  two  years  in  the  new  home. 

They  could  not  have  a  funeral  at  the  time  she  was  buried, 
because  there  was  no  minister  in  the  country.  But  Abraham  and 
his  father  were  not  satisfied.  They  thought  of  Mr.  Elkin,  a  minister 
whom  they  had  known  in  Kentucky,  and  a  few  months  later  Abraham 
wrote  a  letter  to  this  preacher  friend  of  the  family  and  asked  him  to 
come  and  preach  a  sermon  at  his  mother's  grave.  It  was  nearly  a 
hundred  miles,  but  the  good  preacher  came  through  the  woods  on 
horseback. 

Notice  had  been  given  through  all  the  country  and  people  came 
from  twenty  miles  around,  some  on  horseback,  some  in  ox-carts  with 
wheels  sawed  out  of  the  trunks  of  trees,  and  others  still  on  foot. 
Two  hundred  persons  gathered  under  the  forest  trees  to  listen  to 
the  last  words  of  love  and  respect  to  the  memory  of  Nancy  Lin- 
coln. It  was  a  beautiful  Sunday  morning.  Now  and  then  a  bird 
flew  over,  twittering  its  carol  of  hope,  and  the  springing  flowers 
looked    up    and  smiled    in    childlike    faith,  -trusting  that  the  power 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 


that   made    them   bloom  would    still   hold  them  in  love   and  care, 
though  petals  fade  and  winter  come  with  its  mantle  of  ice.     It  was 


TOO  POOR  TO  AFFORD  A  TALLOW  CANDLE. 

not  the  preacher's  words  alone  that  said,    "  I  am  the  Resurrection 
and  the  Life." 


THE  ILLINOIS  RAIL-SPLITTER. 

The  service  and  the  day  sank  deep  into  the  young  soul  of 
Abraham  Lincoln  and  touched  his  life  with  a  new  tenderness  and 
an  added  reverence. 

Years   after   her   death    he    said   to  a   friend,  while    the    tears 


^'"''^'l-yil: 


HOW   LINCOLN   FOUND    NECESSITY  TO  BE  THE  MOTHER  OF    INVENTION. 


Started   to  his  eyes,    "All  that  I  am,   or  hope  to  be,  I  owe  to  m} 
angel  mother — blessings  on  her  memory!" 

When  Mrs.  Lincoln  had  been  dead  a  little  more  than  a  year, 
Mr.  Lincoln  went  back  to  Kentucky  and  brought  home  a  second 
wife,  who  became  a  wise  and  kind  mother  to  the  two  lonely  children. 


ABRAHAM  Ui^COL^ 

She  taught  them  a  great  many  things.  In  the  winter  evenings 
Abraham  would  he  on  the  floor  with  his  head  on  a  log  pillow  and 
read  by  the  light  of  the  great  fire-place.  And  when  his  father  sent 
him  to  bed  and  he  climbed  up  the  row  of  wooden  pins  that  stood  in 
the  wall  for  a  ladder,  he  would  keep  his  step-brother  awake  by  the 
hour  to  tell  him  what  he  had  read.  He  did  not  have  a  nice  shelf- 
full  of  pretty  picture  books  such  as  many  children  of  his  age  now 
have,  about  *' Little  Moonshine"  and  "  Lotty  Simple"  and  their 
mates,  but  he  read  all  the  good,  sound,  sensible  books  he  could  lay 
his  hands  on,  such  as  the  Pilgrim's  Progress  and  .^sop's  Fables, 
both  of  which  he  nearly  learned  by  heart.  A  little  before  this  he 
learned  to  write,  and  he  wrote  a  letter  for  his  father,  who  could  just 
scribble  his  own  name  so  badly  that  he  always  had  to  read  it  himself 
because  nobody  else  could. 

When  he  wanted  to  write  or  cipher  he  did  not  ask  his  mother  for 
ten  cents  and  run  out  to  the  corner  to  buy  a  tablet,  then  scribble  a 
little  on  it  and  tear  the  rest  of  it  into  the  waste-basket  before  Satur- 
day, as  you  might  have  done  when  you  were  as  young  as  he  was  then. 
That  would  have  proved  that  your  father  had  a  great  deal  of  money 
and  that  you  could  afford  to  waste  as  much  as  you  pleased.  He  used 
to  write  with  charcoal  on  a  wooden  shovel  or  the  top  of  the  table  and 
then  shave  the  writing  off  and  begin  all  over  again.  Fortunate,  isn't 
it,  that  you  didn't  have  to  learn  seven-times-nine  in  that  way?  I 
have  heard  that  he  had  one  precious  copy-book,  which  he  used  to 
keep  for  the  very  finest  things  he  came  across.  In  this  book  he 
sometimes  wrote  poetry.  Here  are  two  lines  which  he  must  have 
composed  himself: 

"Abraham  Lincoln,  his  hand  and  pen. 
He  will  be  good,  but  God  knows  when.'* 

Not  very  good  poetry,  was  it,  for  a  President  to  write  ?  Besides  this 
he  kept  a  scrap-book,  in  which  he  wrote  down  everything,  his  step- 
mother said.  This  must  have  been  convenient,  for  most  of  his  books 
were  borrowed  ones,  and  if  he  forgot  any  of  the  good  things  he  had 
read,  there  they  were  in  his  scrap-book.  But  he  took  just  as  much 
pains  to  keep  things  in  his  mind,  always  selecting  the  very  best  things, 
remember.     And  although  books  were  so  scarce,  his  head  grew  to  be 


THE  ILLINOIS  RAIL-SPLITTER, 

2l  great  scrap-book  full  of  the  richest  things  in  the  world.     And  that 
scrap-book  was  of  great  use  to  him  when  he  became  the  greatest  man 


L 


LINCOLN   WAS   A   GREAT     ORATOR    BECAUSE    HE   SPOKE   FROM   THE   HEART. 

m  the  nation  and  needed  all  the  world's  best  wisdom  to  decide  what 
was  best  for  the  whole  country. 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

One  way  that  he  had  of  fixing  things  tight  in  his  head  when  he 
wished  to  remember  them  was  to  repeat  them  to  his  step-brothers 
when  they  were  out  in  the  field  at  work.  Sometimes  he  would  get 
upon  a  stump  on  Monday  and  preach  the  sermon  he  had  heard  on 
Sunday.  And  sometimes  he  would  preach  and  make  his  own  sermon 
as  he  went  along.  One  day  some  boys  were  cruel  to  a  turtle,  just  for 
fun.  That  made  Abraham  feel  so  bad  that  he  preached  a  sermon 
about  it.  He  said  that  animals  had  feehngs  just  as  we  have,  and  that 
it  was  mean  and  cowardly  to  cause  pain  to  dumb  creatures  that  could 
not  help  themselves. 

I  told  you  in  the  beginning  that  Abraham  was  just  a  common 
baby.  I  want  to  apologize  for  that.  Of  course  I  meant  as  common 
as  they  ever  are.     There  never  was  a  very  common  baby,  you  know. 

And  when  he  grew  up  to  be  a  boy,  he  was  so  homely  and  had 
such  long,  awkward  legs,  always  getting  in  his  way,  that  I  suppose 
any  one  who  judged  him  by  his  looks  would  have  thought  he  was  just 
a  common  boy.  But  people  can  not  be  cheated  in  that  way  a  great 
while,  and  they  began  to  find  out  before  many  years  that  he  was  not 
exactly  common  after  all.  I  have  heard  that  when  he  was  a  boy  he 
thought  he  would  sometime  be  President,  and  that  some  of  his  neigh- 
bors were  quite  sure  of  it.  I  do  not  know  whether  that  was  true  or 
not,  but  I  think  if  he  had  known  it,  he  would  have  gone  on  doing  just 
the  same  way  to  get  ready,  splitting  rails  and  telling  the  truth  and 
learning  all  he  could.  We  can  not  all  be  Presidents,  but  some  of  us 
will  have  to  be,  and  we  might  as  well  begin  to  get  ready  now  and 
save  hurrying  by  and  by.  I  wish  we  could  all  go  to  college,  but  if  we 
can  not  do  that,  we  can  stay  at  home  and  go  barefooted  and  not 
growl  about  it,  and  behave  ourselves  and  study,  as  Abraham  Lincoln 
did.  And  if  the  country  does  not  need  us  for  Presidents,  why,  then 
it  will  want  us  for  something  else. 

When  he  was  about  nineteen  years  old,  a  man  offered  him  eight 
dollars  a  month  to  go  down  the  Mississippi  river  to  New  Orleans  on  a 
flat-boat  and  take  a  cargo  of  goods.  He  was  pleased  to  think  of 
getting  so  much  money.  His  father  said  he  might  go,  and  that  gave 
him  his  first  glimpse  of  the  wide  world. 

Soon  after  that,  Mr.  Lincoln  began  to  hear  about  the  fine  prairie 
lands  in  Illinois.     He  thought  he  would  like  to  try  again  and  see  if  he 


THE  ILLINOIS  RAIL-SPLITTER, 


could  find  a  better  home.  So  he  loaded  up  all  his  goods  on  an  ox- 
wagon,  and  the  Lincolns  started  with  two  other  families  for  Illinois. 
They  were  on  the  road  fifteen  days.  They  had  to  cross  a  river  on  the 
way.  They  were  nearly  lost  in  the  water,  but  Abraham  could  not  be 
drowned  because  he  had  to  be  President.  When  they  were  all  safe 
across  the  river,  they  looked  back  and  saw  on  the  other  bank  the 
poor  homely  dog  that  had  followed  them  all  the  way  from  home.  He 
was  afraid  he  could 
not    swim    across.  ^ 

Abraham  Lincoln 
would  not  go  on 
and  leave  the  poor 
dog  behind.  He 
rolled  up  his  pan- 
taloons and  waded 
back  through  the 
icy  water  and  car- 
ried the  poor  little 
fellow  across.  If 
dogs  could  talk,  I 
would  tell  you  what 
he  said.  As  it  was, 
he  only  wagged  his 
tail  and  barked. 

All  this  time 
our  boy  was  grow- 
ing up.  When  he 
was  twenty-one,  he 
thought  it  was  time 

to  go  to  work  for  himself.  He  went  to  New  Orleans  again  on  an- 
other flat-boat.  This  time  he  saw  white  people  whipping  negroes 
and  selling  them  in  the  market  in  New  Orleans.  He  felt  then  just 
as  he  did  when  the  boys  were  cruel  to  the  turtle.  It  made  him  hate 
slavery.     He  said  then,   "If  I  ever  get  a  chance,  I'll  hit  it  hard 

After  this  he  did  a  great  many  kinds  of  work.  He  was  clerk  ii 
a  store  in  a  little  village  called  New  Salem.  Then  he  bought  a  store 
and  lost  money  in  trading.     But  he  paid  every  dollar  of  his  debt. 


LINCOLN'S   HEART   WAS   TOO    BIG   TO   SEE   EVEN 
A   DOG   SUFFER. 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

Lincoln's  honesty  did  not  wait  until  he  was  President  before  it  began 
to  show  itself.  There  are  a  number  of  stories  of  the  time  when  he 
was  a  clerk  in  an  Illinois  store,  which  go  to  show  how  thoughtful  he 
was  to  do,  not  '  *  about  the  right  thing, "  but  exactly  the  right  thing. 
One  day  a  woman  came  in  and  bought  some  goods  for  which  she  paid 
him  tvv^o  dollars,  six  and. a  fourth  cents.  After  she  had  gone  he 
added  the  items  again  to  make  sure  he  had  been  right,  and  found 
he  was  wrong.  He  had  charged  her  just  six  and  a  fourth  cents  too 
much.  It  was  evening.  He  closed  the  store  and  walked  to  her  house, 
a  distance  of  two  or  three  miles,  and  returned  the  extra  change 
before  he  slept.  At  another  time  he  sold  a  woman  a  half  pound 
of  tea,  as  he  supposed.  The  next  morning  he  noticed  a  four-ounce 
weight  on  the  scales.  He  saw  at  once  that  he  had  made  a  mis- 
take and  had  innocently  cheated  his  customer  out  of  four  ounces  of 
tea.  He  closed  the  store  and  took  a  long  walk  before  breakfast  to 
deliver  the  tea.  These  are  small  things,  but  they  tell  a  great  deal 
about  the  character  of  the  man. 

As  soon  as  Abraham  was  old  enough,  he  began  to  hire  out  by  the 
day  to  the  farmers  about  the  country.  He  was  a  good  worker  and 
stronger  than  any  other  boys  of  his  age.  He  was  always  willing  to 
run  errands,  write  letters,  rock  the  cradle  and  help  in  every  way  he 
could.  He  was  so  full  of  good  will  that  everybody  was  glad  to  have 
him  about.  They  enjoyed  his  company,  too.  He  always  had  some- 
thing new  and  interesting  to  talk  about.  He  was  fond  of  telling  a 
good  story,  and  always  made  more  amusement  for  others  than  he 
seemed  to  enjoy  himself.  His  own  face  would  be  perfectly  serious 
while  his  listeners  were  convulsed  with  merriment. 

This  trait  never  left  him,  even  during  the  darkest  hours  of  the 
war.  People  sometimes  blamed  him  for  joking  in  the  midst  of  such 
solemn  times.  It  was  not  because  he  bore  his  burdens  hghtly,  but 
because  they  pressed  on  him  so  heavily  that  he  had  to  find  some  way 
to  make  them  lighter. 

About  this  time  he  enlisted  in  a  war  to  fight  the  Indians.  It  was 
called  the  Black  Hawk  War,  because  the  Indian  leader  was  named 
Black  Hawk.  The  men  chose  Lincoln  for  their  Captain.  He  never 
killed  any  Indians,  but  he  saved  the  life  of  one  of  them,  and  that  was 
better.     He  next  made  up  his  mind  to  be  a  lawyer.     He  had  to  walk 


THE  ILLINOIS  RAIL-SPLITTER. 

twenty-two  miles  and  back  to  borrow  his  first  law  books.  He  took 
the  walk  in  one  day  and  learned  a  lesson  in  law  on  his  way  home. 
He  learned  surveying  so  that  he  could  earn  some  money  to  live  on 
while  he  was  studying  law.  In  those  days  he  wore  linen  pantaloons 
that  just  reached  to  the  tops  of  his  blue  woolen  stockings.  Some- 
times he  had  only  one  suspender.  He  wore  a  calico  shirt  and  a 
straw  hat  without  a  band  around  it.     You  would  not  have  thought 


ij,«<iJW6-  . 


*S^ 


^ 


LINCOLN    AS   A    BOOK   AGENT. 

him  an  elegant  young  man.  Sometimes  he  lived  on  crackers  and 
cheese,  and  other  times  he  had  to  sleep  on  the  counter  in  a  store. 
But  it  was  not  long  before  he  was  ready  to  practice  law. 

About  this  time  he  was  married  to  Miss  Mary  Todd.  He  was 
soon  after  this  elected  to  go  to  the  capital  of  Illinois  and  help  make 
the  laws.  The  capital  was  not  Springfield  then,  but  Vandalia. 
After  a  few  years  he  was  sent  to  Washington  to  help  make  laws  for 
the  whole  country.     And  now  people  began   to  think  he  was  not  a 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

common  man.  He  was  not  afraid  to  say  what  he  thought,  and  he 
made  some  great  speeches. 

A  few  years  later,  some  of  the  people  wished  to  give  Mr.  Lincoln 
a  still  higher  office,  that  of  United  States  Senator.  Another  party 
wanted  to  elect  Stephen  A.  Douglas  to  the  same  office.  The  two 
men  went  about  Illinois  together  making  speeches.  One  would  make 
a  speech  and  the  other  would  answer  it.  Mr.  Douglas  was  sometimes 
called  the  ' '  Little  Giant. "  This  was  because  his  body  was  so  small 
and  his  mind  was  so  great.  He  was  elected  to  go  to  Washington  and 
Mr.  Lincoln  had  to  stay  at  home.  But  people  remembered  the 
speeches  he  had  made.  And  more  than  that,  they  remembered 
that  he  was  an  honest  man.     They  began  to  call  him  ' '  Honest  Abe. '" 

The  next  time  our  country  needed  a  new  President,  a  great 
many  people  began  to  think  about  the  "Little  Giant"  and  a  great 
many  others  thought  of  "  Honest  Old  AbCo"  Mr.  Lincoln's  friends 
got  some  of  the  rails  that  he  had  split  on  his  father's  farm  thirty 
years  before.  They  trimmed  them  up  with  flags  and  bunting  and 
took  them  all  over  the  country  to  let  the  people  see  them.  They 
called  Mr.  Linc^m  .he  ' '  Rail-splitter. "  They  were  not  ashamed 
that  their  candidate  had  once  worked  hard  with  his  hands.  Perhaps 
he  could  now  work  all  the  better  with  his  brains.  Most  of  the  Re- 
publicans in  the  country  voted  for  Mr.  Lincoln,  and  most  of  the 
northern  Democrats  for  Mr.  Douglas.  But  this  time  it  was  the 
' '  Little  Giant "  who  had  to  stay  at  home,  for  Abraham  Lincoln  was 
elected  President  of  the  United  States. 

Perhaps  you  think  Mr.  Lincoln's  hard  work  was  over  now,  and 
that  he  was  glad  he  had  no  more  rails  to  split.  The  truth  is  that  his 
hardest  and  saddest  work  had  only  begun,  for  just  after  he  was  elected 
a  long  and  terrible  war  broke  out  in  our  country.  This  was  in  1861. 
Mr.  Lincoln  wanted  the  nation  to  be  at  peace  and  worked  hard  all  the 
rest  of  his  life  to  end  the  war. 

One  great  reason  for  this  war  was  the  fact  that  the  Northern  and 
Southern  people  were  not  acquainted  with  one  another.  It  takes  a 
long  time  even  now  with  our  fast  trains  to  go  from  one  end  of  our 
great  country  to  the  other.  And  in  1861  we  had  not  nearly  so  many 
railroads  as  we  have  now.  Consequently  travel  was  not  so  common 
and  the  people  of  the  North  and  South  had  fewer  opportunities  of 


THE  ILLINOIS  RAIL-SPLITTER: 


THE  CAUSES   OF    THE  WAR. 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 


meeting.  The  natural  result  of  this  was  that  they  misunderstood  and 
hated  each  other.  The  story  is  told  of  Charles  Lamb,  an  English 
writer,  with  a  ready  pen  but  a  stammering  tongue,  that  in  speaking 

to  a  friend  one 
day  he  said,  ' '  I 
h-h-hate  that 
man. "  ' '  How  can 
you  hate  him  ?  " 
asked  the  friend. 
' '  I  didn't  know 
that  you  knew 
him."  "Th-th- 
that-that's  it, "  was 
Lamb's  reply. 
"  How  c-c-could  I 
h-h-hate  him  if  I 
n-n-knew  him?" 
The  Southern  peo- 
ple believed  that 
the  North  wanted 
to  take  their  slaves 
away  from  them 
without  pay,  and 
the  people  of  the 
North  thought  the 
South  wanted  to 
destroy  the  nation, 
and  have  every- 
thing their  own 
way.  There  was 
some  truth  in  these 
complaints,  but 
they  were  not  en- 
tirely true.  Yet,  strange  as  it  may  seem,  the  more  the  people  be- 
lieved them,  the  truer  they  came  to  be. 

I  have  told  you  that  Mr.  Lincoln  thought  slavery  was  a  great 
wrong.     Yet  at  first  he  thought  he  had  no  right  to  interfere  with  it. 


•ziU 


SLAVES  ON   A   PLANTATION. 


THE  ILLINOIS  RAIL-SPLITTER. 

But  the  Southern  people  heard  so  many  false  things  about  him  that 
they  believed  he  was  their  worst  enemy.     And  when  he  was  elected 


ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 


President,  a  number  of  the  states  seceded  and  declared  they  would 
have  a  nation  of  their  own  and  rule  it  to  suit  themselves.  They  fired 
or.  Ft.    Sumter  and  the  war  began.      Mr.    Lincoln  believed  it  was 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 


his  duty  to  try  to  keep  the  Union  from  being  broken  up.  He 
called  for  volunteers  to  put  down  the  rebellion.  It  took  four  years 
to  do  this  and  cost  the  lives  of  many  thousand  brave  men  on  both 
sides.  In  1863,  President  Lincoln  set  the  slaves  free  and  gave  those 
who  wished  it  a  chance  to  fight  for  their  liberty  and  for  the  Union. 
Many  of  them  made  excellent  soldiers. 

President  Lincoln  was  often  very  sad  during  the  war.      He  was 

always  remembering  the  terrible  loss 
of  human  life.  Once  he  said,  • '  I 
shall  never  be  glad  any  more. "  Yet 
he  had  a  way  of  throwing  off  the 
trouble  for  the  moment  with  a  laugh- 
able story  or  cheerful  conversation 
just  when  the  burden  was  heaviest 
to  bear.  He  was  never  too  deep  in 
the  affairs  of  the  nation  to  be  sym- 
pathetic and  kindly  to  everybody. 
In  military  matters  the  President  had 
the  power  of  life  and  death  and  many 
people  came  to  him  for  pardons  for 
their  friends.  He  was  always  ready 
to  save  life  when  it  was  possible. 
An  army  officer  tells  the  following: 
"The  first  week  of  my  command, 
there  were  twenty-four  deserters  sen- 
tenced by  court  martial  to  be  shot, 
and  the  warrants  for  their  execution 
were  sent  to  the  President.  He  re- 
fused. I  went  to  Washington,  and 
had  an  interview.  I  said:  'Mr.  President,  unless  these  men  are 
made  an  example  of,  the  army  itself  is  in  danger.  Mercy  to  the  few 
is  cruelty  to  the  many. '  He  replied,  '  Mr.  General,  there  are  already 
too  many  weeping  widows  in  the  United  States.  For  God's  sake, 
don't  ask  me  to  add  to  the  number,  for  I  won't  do  it. ' " 

One  of  his  last  acts  was  to  pardon  a  young  man  who  had  gone 
out  to  spend  the  evening,  had  fallen  into  bad  company  and  had 
failed  to  reach  his  regiment  before  it  left  the  city.     He  was  sentenced 


JOHN   WILKES    BOOTH. 


THE  ILLINOIS  RAIL-SPLITTER. 


THE  soi,dier's  good-b^:. 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

to  be  shot  for  desertion.  A  friend  of  the  young  man's  brought  the 
case  to  the  President.  "Well,"  said  President  Lincoln  as  he 
signed  the  parden  while  an  odd  smile  lit  up  his  sad,  homely  face, 
' '  I  think  the  boy  can  do  us  more  good  above  ground  than  under 
ground."  A  book  could  be  filled  with  stories  of  his  kindness  to 
people  who  were  poor  and  helpless.  He  could  almost  always  find 
excuses  for  the  sins  of  other  people. 

The  bells  were  ringing  and  flags  were  waving  for  joy  all  over 
the  country  when  a  very  sad  thing  happened.  Mr.  Lincoln  was  at 
a  theater  in  Washington  with  his  wife  and  some  friends  when  a 
half  crazy  man  named  John  Wilkes  Booth  climbed  up  into  the 
President's  box  and  shot  him  in  the  back  of  the  head.  He  never 
spoke  again,  but  died  the  next  morning.  The  joy  was  all  turned 
into  grief  and  everybody  mourned  for  the  good  man  who  had  freed 
the  slaves  and  saved  the  country  from  ruin.  Even  the  Southern 
people  came  to  see  in  time  that  he  had  been  their  very  best  friend. 

And  all  this  is  the  reason  why  we  celebrate  every  year  the  birth- 
day of  '  *  St.  Lincoln. " 


QUEEN    VICTORIA 


Her  court  was  pure, 
her  life  serene  ; 
God  gave  her   peace ;    her 

land  reposed  ; 
A  thousand  claims  to  rever- 
ence closed 
In  her  as  Mother,   Wife,  and 
Queen. 

— Tennyson. 


AMES  MONROE  was 
President   of    the 
United    States,   and 
the    "Era  of   Good 
Feeling  "  in  this  country  was  ush- 
ering in  those  days  of  intellectual 
and    industrial    activity    which 
were  about  to  give  us  the  first 
railroads   and    the    Erie  Canal. 
i        In   poor    unhappy    France,    King 
Louis  XVIII.  was  vainly  struggling 
to  preserve  some  fragments  of  law 
and    order.        In    England,    King 
George  III.  still  sat  on  his  throne, 
but  his  mind  flickered  in  darkness  in  the 
citadel  of  his  brain.     The  poor  old  king 
had  long  since  been  hopelessly  insane, 


QUEEN  VICTORIA 

and  George  IV.  as  Prince  Regent,  was  actual  ruler  of  the  land.     It 
was  the  24th  of  May,  18 19,  the  year  in  which  the  first  steamship 


iiJ.JiHLJltl.|if.- 


PORTRAIT   OF   QUEEN   VICTORIA   TAKEN   AT   THE   TIME   OF   HER    DIAMOND 

JUBILEE. 

crossed  the  Atlantic,  that  a  little  girl  was  born  in  London  who  was 
to  become  Queen  Victoria  and  ruler  over  a  vast  empire. 


EMPRESS  OF  INDIA. 

Victoria's  father  was  Edward,  the  Duke  of  Kent,  a  younger 
brother  of  George  IV.  and  William  IV.  He  would  himself  have 
been  king  of  England  if  he  had  outlived  William  IV.,  who  left  no 
children.  The  Duke  of  Kent  lived  much  of  his  life  out  of  England. 
He  received  a  military  education  in  Hanover,  Germany.  He  was 
stationed  at  Gibraltar  for  a  time,  and  afterwards  spent  some  years  in 
Canada  as  commander-in-chief  of  the  British  army.  He  took  great 
interest  in  the  people  while  there  and  was  active  in  many  kinds  of 
benevolent  work.  He  is  still  very  dear  to  the  Canadian  heart.  One 
of  the  great  stone  gates  in  Quebec  is  named  for  him  and  the  people 
of  that  city  always  speak  of  him  with  great  tenderness.  He  seems 
a  living  presence  to-day  in  that  quaint  old  city,  and  one  finds  it  hard 
to  realize  that  he  has  been  dead  more  than  three  quarters  of  a 
century. 

When  he  was  about  fifty  years  of  age  he  married  Louisa 
Victoria,  Princess  of  Saxe-Coburg  in  Central  Germany.  She  was 
the  widow  of  Prince  Charles  of  Leiningen,  and  had  two  children, 
Charles  and  Anna  Feodora.  She  is  said  to  have  been  "altogether 
most  charming  and  attractive. " 

The  Duke  and  Duchess  were  living  in  Kensington  Palace, 
London,  when  the  future  queen  was  born.  She  was  baptized  in  a 
gold  font  by  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  when  she  was  a  month 
old.  I  wonder  how  much  the  costly  font  added  to  her  piety.  Her 
uncle,  George  IV.,  named  her  Alexandrina,  for  the  Emperor  Alexan- 
der of  Russia.  It  is  said  that  her  father  wished  to  call  her  Elizabeth 
because  the  English  like  that  name,  but  the  Prince  Regent  said  if 
she  must  have  another  name  it  should  be  her  mother's.  He  accord- 
ingly added  the  name  Victoria,  taking  care  to  say,  ' '  but  it  must  not 
precede  that  of  the  Emperor."  As  a  little  girl  she  was  known  as 
*' Princess  Drina, "  but  when  she  became  Queen,  she  chose  her 
mother's  name  and  gave  commands  that  she  should  be  called 
Victoria. 

The  Duke  of  Kent  had  often  said  that  he  should  live  to  be  king 
of  England,  although  there  were  several  heirs  between  him  and  the 
throne.  But  his  health  began  to  fail.  Then  as  he  saw  the  end  of 
his  own  life  drawing  near,  he  would  take  the  baby  Victoria  in  his 
arms  and  say,  ' '  Take  care  of  her  for  she  will  be  queen  of  England. " 


QUEEN  UrctORfA 

When  she  was  six  months  old  he  went  with  his  family  to  the 
south  coast  "to  cheat  the  winter"  and  try  to  piece  out  his  fast 
ebbing  life.  It  was  of  no  use.  Two  months  later  he  died.  His 
father,  George  III.,  outlived  him  just  six  days,  and  his  brother  George 
IV.  became  king  of  England. 

The  Duke  of  Kent,  being  a  younger  son,  had  never  had  a  large 
income  and  had  been  of  a  generous  nature.  He  had  never  econo- 
mized and  therefore  left  large  debts  behind  him  when  he  died.  One 
of  the  first  acts  of  the  Duchess,  Victoria's  mother,  after  his  death, 
was  to  give  up  all  his  property  to  his  creditors. 

This  left  her  and  her  children  dependent  for  the  time  being  upon 
her  friends.  Her  brother,  Prince  Leopold,  afterwards  king  of 
Belgium,  came  to  her  aid  in  this  trouble  and  generously  provided  her  a 
yearly  income  of  3,000  pounds,  or  about  15,000  dollars.  He  con- 
tinued to  do  this  for  some  years,  or  until  the  English  government 
made  it  unnecessary  by  providing  sufficiently  for  Victoria  and  her 
family.  Prince  Leopold  lived  for  some  years  at  Kensington  Palace 
with  the  Duchess  and  her  children,  and  took  a  deep  interest  in  the 
education  of  the  young  princess  Victoria.  He  had  been  the  husband 
of  the  daughter  of  George  IV.,  that  Princess  Charlotte  whom  the 
English  nation  so  tenderly  loved.  "The  English  like  queens,"  and 
they  had  fondly  hoped  to  see  Charlotte  on  the  English  throne  one 
day.  But  she  died  at  twenty-one.  When,  shortly  before  her  own 
death,  she  was  told  of  the  death  of  her  infant  son,  she  said:  "  I  am 
grieved  for  myself,  for  the  English  people ;  but,  oh,  above  all,  I  feel 
it  for  my  dear  husband."  When  told  she  could  not  live,  she  said: 
"Tell  it  to  my  husband — tell  it  with  caution  and  tenderness,  and  be 
sure  to  say  to  him  from  me,  that  I  am  still  the  happiest  wife  in 
England."     It  was  thought  by  some  that  Victoria  resembled  her. 

Princess  Victoria  as  a  baby  was  ' '  blue-eyed  and  plump  as  a 
partridge."  A  number  of  portraits  painted  of  her  when  quite  a  young 
child  are  still  preserved.  One  of  the  best  likenesses  is  a  bust  done  in 
marble  when  she  was  two  years  old,  and  now  kept  in  Windsor  castle. 
She  is  thus  described  by  Jane  Porter,  the  celebrated  author  of  the 
"  Scottish  Chief  ":  "In  describing  the  infancy  of  the  princess  I  would 
say  she  was  a  beautiful  child,  with  a  cherubic  form  of  features, 
clustered  round  by  glossy  fair  ringlets.     Her  complexion  was  remark- 


EMPRESS  OE  INDIA. 


ably  transparent,  with  a  soft  but  often  heightening  tinge  of  the  sweet 
blush-rose  upon  her  cheeks,  that  imparted  a  peculiar  brilliancy  to  her 
clear  blue  eyes.  Whenever  she  met  any  strangers  in  her  usual  paths 
she  always  seemed,  by  the  quickness  of  her  glance,  to  inquire  who 
and  what  they 
were.  The  in- 
telligence of  her 
countenancewas 
extraordinary  at 
her  very  early 
age,  but  might 
easily  be  ac- 
counted for  on 
perceiving  the 
extraordinary  in- 
telligence of  her 
mind. " 

At  Kensing- 
ton Palace  the 
little  princess 
was  brought  up 
very  simply  and 
naturally,  quite 
like  a  little  girl 
in  the  ordinary 
walks  of  life  who 
never  thought  of 
wearing  a  crown. 
Their  way  of  liv- 
ing is  thus  de- 
scribed: "Break- 
fast   at    eight 

o'clock,  Princess  Victoria  having  her  bread  and  milk  and  fruit  put  on 
a  little  table  at  her  mother's  side.  After  breakfast  there  was  a  walk 
or  drive  for  an  hour;  and  then,  from  ten  to  twelve,  she  was  in- 
structed by  her  mother,  after  which  she  would  amuse  herself  run- 
ning through  the  suite  of  rooms  which  extended  round  two  sides  of 


CHILDHOOD    OF    VICTORIA. 


QUEEN  VICTORIA 


^ 


the  palace.  At  two  came  a  plain  dinner,  while  the  duchess  took 
her  luncheon.  After  this,  lessons  again  till  four,  then  a  visit  or  drive; 
and  after  that  the  princess  would  ride  or  walk,  or  sit  out  on  the  lawn 
under  the  trees  with  the  rest  of  the  party.  At  the  time  of  her 
mother's  dinner  she  had  her  supper  laid  at  her  side;  then,  after  play- 
ing with  her  nurse  (Mrs.  Brock — 'dear,  dear  Boppy'),  she  would 
join  the  party  at  dessert,  and  at  nine  go  to  her  bed,  which  was  placed 
by  the  side  of  her  mother's." 

Like  any  common  little  girl,  Victoria  was  fond  of  dolls,  though, 
unlike  most  little  girls,  she  had  enough  to  stock  an  orphan  asylum. 

The  doll  census 
reported  a  hun- 
dred and  thirty- 
two  in  her  nur- 
sery. She  learned 
to  sew  exquisitely 
by  making  their 
clothes,  but  I  can- 
not believe  that 
her  motherly  love 
and  attention 
could  hold  out  to 
go  all  around.  I 
have  not  heard 
that  she  knew 
them  all  by  their 
names.  I  am  sure 
she  could  not  re- 
member all  the  names  of  every  one,  if  the  doll  princesses  were  as 
well  supplied  with  names  as  most  young  ladies  of  noble  blood,  even 
if  she  had  taken  a  course  in  Professor  Loisette's  Memory  System, 
which  of  course  she  had  not,  because  she  was  unfortunate  enough  to 
live  too  soon  for  that.  But  if  they  could  not  all  be  loved  and  put 
to  bed  and  crooned  to  sleep  every  night,  as  is  the  right  of  a  com- 
mon, plebeian  doll,  they  served  a  purpose  quite  essential  in  the  life 
of  a  princess,  for  the  royal  dolls  were  used  as  dummies  to  teach  the 
future  queen  the  elaborate  ceremonies  of  the  London  court — the  poor 


CANAL   AND   GARDENS,    HAMPTON    COURT,    ENGLAND. 

In  these  Gardens  is  Located  the  Largest  Royal  Palace  In  Great  Britain.     An  Hour's  Ride 

by  Rail  from  London. 


EMPRESS  OF  INDIA. 

dolls,  and  the  poor,  poor  Princess!  But  Victoria's  mother  was  a 
sensible  woman,  and,  as  far  as  possible,  saw  to  it  that  her  little 
daughter  was  not  robbed  of  her  sweet,  simple  childhood.  Up  to 
the  time  of  her  becoming  queen,  she  led  a  remarkably  quiet  and 
undisturbed  life  for  a  princess.     Her  dress  was  usually  as  simple  as 

any  child's  could  well  be. 

Lord  Albemarle  paints  a  pretty  pen-picture  of  her  in  his  auto- 
biography: "A  pretty  little  girl,  seven  years  of  age,  engaged  in 
watering  the  plants  immediately  under  the  window.  It  was  amusing 
to  see  how  impartially  she  divided  the  contents  of  the  watering-pot 
between  the  flowers  and  her  own  little  feet.  Her  simple  but  becom- 
ing dress — a  large  straw  hat  and  a  white  cotton  gown — contrasted 
favorably  with  the  gorgeous  apparel  now  worn  by  the  little  damsels 
of  the  rising  generation.  A  colored  fichu  round  the  neck  was  the 
only  ornament  she  wore. " 

Victoria  was  early  taught  that  even  a  princess  must  not  spend 
money  beyond  her  income.  Perhaps  her  mother  was  the  more  care- 
ful about  this  because  she  remembered  the  debts  of  her  husband,  the 
Duke  of  Kent,  some  of  which  were  still  unpaid  and  rested  uneasily 
upon  her  conscience.  Victoria's  training  in  this  direction  is  illustrated 
by  an  incident  which  occurred  when  she  was  about  eight  years  old. 
Visiting  a  bazaar  with  her  governess,  she  spent  all  her  money  for 
presents  for  her  friends.  She  then  wished  to  buy  a  toy  for  a 
cousin  whom  she  had  forgotten.  The  price  was  a  half  crown  and 
the  attendant  was  willing  she  should  take  it.  But  the  governess 
said,  ' '  No.  You  see  the  princess  has  not  the  money,  and  so,  of 
course,  she  cannot  buy  the  box."  The  attendant  gladly  offered  to 
keep  the  box  until  Victoria  received  her  next  allowance,  when  she 
went  back  and  made  the  desired  purchase. 

Another  pretty  picture  of  her  childhood  is  given  us  by  Leigh 
Hunt:  "  We  remember  well, "  he  says,  "  the  peculiar  pleasure  which 
it  gave  us  to  see  the  future  queen,  the  first  time  we  ever  did  see  her, 
coming  up  a  cross  path  from  the  Bayswater  gate,  with  a  girl  of  her 
own  age  by  her  side,  whose  hand  she  was  holding  as  if  she  loved  her. 
A  magnificent  footman  in  scarlet  came  behind  her,  with  the  splendid- 
est  pair  of  calves  in  white  stockings  which  we  ever  beheld.  He  looked 
somehow  like  a  gigantu':  luiry,  personating  for  his  little  lady's  sake 


QUEEN  VICTORIA 

tl'ic  grandest  kind  of  footman  he  could  think  of;  and  his  calves  he 
seemed  to  have  made  out  of  a  couple  of  the  biggest  chain  lamps  in 
the  possession  of  the  godmother  of  Cinderella. " 

It  was  not  until  sne  was  about  eleven  years  of  age  that  the 
possibility  ot  her  great  aestmy  was  brought  to  her  attention.  In 
studying  the  genealogical  table  of  the  kings  of  England,  which  had 
been  purposely  put  in  her  way  by  her  governess,  her  curiosity  was 
aroused  and  she  inquired  who  would  become  king  in  case  of  the  death 
of  George  IV.  The  governess  told  her  that  her  uncle  William 
would  be  the  next  heir  to  the  throne.  "Yes,  that  I  know,"  she 
replied,  ' '  but  who  will  succeed  him  ?  "  "  Princess, "  said  the  gover- 
ness, who  seemed  unwilling  to  give  a  dirt^ct  answer,  ' '  You  have 
several  uncles!  "  The  princess  was  much  affected.  "  True,  I  have," 
she  answered,  but  I  perceive  here  that  my  papa  was  next  in  age  to  my 
uncle  William;  and  it  does  appear  to  me,  from  what  I  have  just  been 
reading,  that  when  he  and  the  present  king  are  both  dead,  I  shall 
become  queen  of  England." 

From  that  time  on,  her  education  was  more  carefully  attended 
to  than  ever.  She  learned  Latin  and  became  familiar  with  several 
modern  languages.  She  showed  considerable  talent  for  music.  She 
paid  great  attention  to  history  as  laying  such  a  foundation  for  prac- 
tical politics  as  a  queen  would  need.  At  twelve  years  old  she  went 
with  her  mother  on  a  tour  through  the  principal  cities  of  England  and 
Wales,  studying  carefully  into  their  historical  and  industrial  interests. 
During  this  tour  the  princess  bestowed  the  prizes  on  the  successful 
musicians  at  the  Welsh  Eisteddfod,  a  musical  convention  held  at 
Beaumaris.  She  laid  the  corner-stone  of  a  school,  named  a  bridge, 
planted  an  oak,  and  became  a  god-mother.  She  visited  Oxford 
and  received  a  present  of  a  handsome  Bible  and  an  account  of  her 
visit  on  white  satin. 

The  next  year  the  princess  and  her  mother  spent  some  time 
on  the  Isle  of  Wight,  off  the  southern  coast  of  England.  There 
they  were  as  free  as  a  royal  maiden  could  be  from  the  artificial 
restraints  of  society,  often  leaving  the  footman  at  home  and  taking 
long  walks  alone  to  enjoy  the  beauties  of  the  island. 

The  young  princess  became  o^  a^^je  on  the  24th  day  of  May, 
1837.     Parliament  was  closed  m  r.^uoi  of  her  birthday  and  a  state 


EMPRESS  OP  INDIA. 

ball  was  given  at  the  palace  of  St.  James.     But  more  serious  matters 
were  soon  to  claim  her  attention. 

Kmoj  William  IV.  died  early  on  the  morning  of  the  20th  of  June, 
1837.  The  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  and  the  Lord  Chamberlain 
started  immediately  for  Kensington  Palace  to  announce  the  event  to  the 
princess.  Reaching  the  palace  about  five  o'clock  in  the  morning,  they 
sent  the  announcement  that  they  had  come  '  'on  business  of  state  to  the 


REAR   VIEW   OF  WINDSOR   CASTLE — THE    FAVORITE    HOME    OF    THE   QUEEN. 

TWENTY-ONE    MILES    FROM    LONDON. 

queen."  She  came  into  the  room  with  her  eyes  filled  with  tears.  The 
first  words  of  the  new  queen  were,  ' '  I  ask  your  prayers  on  my  behalf. " 
As  soon  as  the  messengers  had  left  her,  she  wrote  a  letter  of 
sympathy  to  her  aunt,  Queen  Adelaide,  asking  her  to  remain  at 
Windsor  as  long  as  she  liked.  Windsor  Castle  is  always  at  the  serv- 
ice of  the  king  or  queen,  and  would  consequently  now  fall  to  Victoria. 
She  addressed  the  letter  to  "Her  Majesty  the  Queen."  Someone 
suggested  that  th?  address  was  incorrect,  as  she  herself  was  now 
queen.  "  I  am  quite  aware  of  her  majesty's  altered  character;  but  I 
will  not  be  the  first  persc"  to  remind  her  of  it, "  she  answered. 


QUEEN  VICTORIA 

On  the  next  day  the  young  queen  met  her  Privy  Council  at 
Kensington  Palace.  This  Council  is  made  up  of  the  principal 
bishops,  lords  and  judges  of  the  kingdom.  They  had  met  to  make 
the  formal  announcement  of  the  death  of  the  king  and  to  receive 
what  we  might  call  the  inauguration  speech  of  the  new  queen  and 
her  oath  to  support  the  constitution  of  England  and  secure  the  rights 
of  all  her  subjects.  They  also  took  the  oath  of  fidelity  to  her  as 
their  queen. 

It  was  a  hard  position  for  a  young  girl  of  eighteen,  and  she 
seems  to  have  behaved  well.  Sir  Robert  Peel  said  he  was  amazed 
at  her  manner  and  behavior,  and  the  Duke  of  Wellington  was  heard 
to  remark  that  if  she  had  been  his  own  daughter  he  could  not  have 
desired  to  see  her  perform  her  part  better.  But  perhaps  the  admira- 
tion of  these  gentlemen  was  a  little  overwrought.  The  truth  seems 
to  be  that  she  was  somewhat  embarrassed  but  that  she  was  sensi- 
ble enough  to  look  to  her  advisers  for  counsel,  and  that  she  behaved 
as  might  have  been  expected  of  any  well-educated  girl  of  good 
sense  and  judgment.  She  read  her  speech  with  a  clear  voice  and 
remarkable  self-possession  for  one  so  young. 

The  next  day,  June  21,  Victoria  was  publicly  proclaimed  Queen 
of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland.  The  ceremony  took  place  in  St. 
James's  palace.  The  young  queen  stood  in  an  open  window  looking 
out  upon  a  court  where  an  immense  crowd  was  gathered.  While  the 
proclamation  was  being  read,  there  were  frequent  shouts  of  ' '  God 
save  the  Queen ! "  Victoria  was  affected  to  weeping.  Elizabeth 
Barrett  Browning  has  written  a  poem  in  memory  of  this  scene,  one 
stanza  of  which  reads  as  follows : 

"  God  save  thee,  weeping  Queen, 

Thou  shalt  be  well  beloved: 
The  tyrant's  scepter  cannot  move 

As  those  poor  tears  have  moved. 
The  nature  in  thine  eyes  we  see 

Which  tyrants  cannot  own— 
The  love  that  guardeth  liberties. 

Strange  blessing  on  the  nation  iies, 
Whose  Sovereign  wept — 

Yea,  wept  to  wear  its  crown. 


EMPRESS  OF  INDIA. 

A  few  days  later,  the  queen  left  her  girlhood's  home  at  Kensing- 
ton for  the  more  luxurious  palace  of  Buckingham. 

On  the  17th  of  July  she  read  her  first  speech  in  Parliament. 
The  impression  she  then  made  is  so  well  described  by  Fanny  Kem- 
ble,  the  greatest  actress  of  the  day,  that  I  cannot  forbear  quoting 
from  her  account: 


BUCKINGHAM    PALACE — THE   LONDON   HOME   OF   ENGLAND'S   RULERS. 


* '  The  Queen  was  not  handsome,  but  very  pretty,  and  the  singu- 
larity of  her  great  position  lent  a  sentimental  and  poetical  charm  to 
her  youthful  face  and  figure.  The  serene,  serious  sweetness  of  her 
candid  brow  and  clear  soft  eyes  gave  dignity  to  the  girlish  counte- 
nance; while  the  want  of  height  only  added  to  the  effect  of  extreme 
youth  of  the  round  but  slender  person,  and  gracefully  molded  hands 
and  arms.     The  Queen's  voice  was  exquisite,  nor  have  I  ever  heard 


QUEEN  VICTORIA 

any  spoken  words  more  musical  in  their  gentle  distinctness  than  '  My 
Lords  and  Gentlemen, '  which  broke  the  breathless  silence  of  the  illus- 
trious assembly,  whose  gaze  was  riveted  on  that  fair  flower  of  royalty. 
The  enunciation  was  as  perfect  as  the  intonation  was  melodious,  and 
I  think  it  is  impossible  to  hear  a  more  excellent  utterance  than  that 
of  the  Queen's  English  by  the  English  Queen. " 

An  instance  of  her  gentleness  I  must  not  leave  unrecorded. 
Soon  after  she  became  queen,  the  Duke  of  Buckingham  brought  a 
death-warrant  to  her  for  her  signature.  The  tears  started  to  her 
e3^es  and  she  said  earnestly,  '  *  Have  you  nothing  to  say  in  behalf  of 
this  man?"  "  Nothing, "  was  the  reply.  "He  has  deserted  three 
times."  "Oh,  your  Grace,  think  again!"  "Well,  your  Majesty," 
returned  the  ' '  Iron  Duke, "  ' '  though  he  is  certainly  a  very  bad  soldier, 
some  witnesses  spoke  for  his  character,  and,  for  aught  I  know  to  the 
contrary,  he  may  be  a  good  man. "  ' '  Oh,  thank  you  for  that  a 
thousand  times!"  said  the  queen.  She  hastily  wrote  "pardoned" 
across  the  paper  and  returned  it  to  the  Duke  with  a  trembling  hand. 

Her  use  of  the  first  large  sums  of  money  which  were  placed  at 
her  disposal  on  her  becoming  queen,  was  to  pay  the  debt  which  her 
father  had  left.  She  said  to  the  Prime  Minister,  "  I  want  to  pay  all 
that  remains  of  my  father's  debt.  I  consider  it  a  sacred  duty. "  She 
also  gave  valuable  presents  to  those  who  had  suffered  by  waiting  so 
long  for  their  money.  This  was  noble  in  her,  though  perhaps  there 
is  danger  of  praising  her  for  it  too  much.  It  was  not  a  great  sacrifice 
and  any  other  course  would  not  have  been  honorable. 

Victoria  had  been  reigning  queen  a  little  more  than  a  year  when 
she  was  crowned.  The  ceremony  took  place  in  Westminster  Abbey 
on  the  28th  day  of  June,  1838.  The  old  crown  weighed  about  seven 
pounds,  and  a  new  and  lighter  one  was  made  that  would  not  rest  so 
heavily  on  the  head  of  the  young  girl  queen.  It  was  made  of  several 
silver  hoops  clasping  a  deep  blue  velvet  cap.  The  hoops  were  cov- 
ered with  precious  stones,  among  which  were  sapphires,  emeralds, 
rubies,  pearls,  and  two  thousand  seven  hundred  and  eighty-three 
diamonds. 

The  Queen  wore  a  robe  of  crimson  velvet.  Kneeling,  with  her 
hand  on  the  Bible,  she  took  the  oath  to  uphold  the  church  and  state. 
The  anthem  rang  out  through  the  spacious  abbey,  and  the  scholars 


EMPRESS  OF  INDIA. 


of  the  Westminster  school,  according  to  ancient  custom,  exclaimed, 
"Victoria!  Victoria!  Vivat  Victoria  Regina!"  {Long  live  Queen 
Victoria. ) 

Then  followed  the  litany  and  sermon.  The  Queen  sat  in  St. 
Edward's  chair,  in  which  all 
the  sovereigns  of  England 
have  been  crowned  since  Ed- 
ward the  Confessor.  Under- 
neath the  chair  was  the  Stone 
of  Scone,  the  "Stone  of 
Destiny, "  on  which  the  Scot 
tish  kings  were  formerly 
crowned. 

Four  Knights  of  the 
Garter  held  a  cloth  of  gold 
above  her  head  and  the  cu- 
rious ceremony  of  anointing 
was  performed,  in  accordance 
with  the  old  Jewish  custom 
of  anointing  kings  and  proph- 
ets. The  Dean  of  West- 
minster poured  some  oil  into 
the  gold  anointing  spoon  and 
the  archbishop  poured  the 
oil  on  the  head  and  hands  of 
the  Queen,  marking  them 
in  the  form  of  a  cross.  The 
spurs  and  sword,  the  ring  and 
scepter  were  offered,  the 
archbishop  placed  the  costly 
crown  on  the  fair  young  head, 
and  all  the  people  shouted, 

"  God  save  the  Queen!  "  It  was  a  thrilling  moment.  It  was  a  great 
destiny  that  was  thus  laid  upon  this  sweet  young  English  girl  of  nine- 
teen years.  Yet  it  is  given  to  many  a  crownless  woman  to  wield 
as  great  an  influence  as  this  Queen  of  Great  Britain  and  Empress  of 
India  has  done.     There  is  no  c;iown  like  that  which  character  may 


THE  CHAIR  IN  WHICH   ENGLAND'S    RULERS 
ARE   CROWNED — WESTMINSTER  ABBEY. 


QUEEN  VICTORIA 

set  upon  a  girl's  fair  brow,  and  no  Indian  Empire  so  vast  as  that  she 
may  sway  by  the  love  and  loyalty  of  a  blameless  life. 

A  great  many  things  have  to  be  thought  of  in  arranging  the 
marriage  of  a  queen,  and  too  often  the  feelings  of  the  persons  who 
have  the  best  right  to  be  consulted  are  very  little  considered. 
Victoria  was  most  fortunate  in  this  respect.  Between  her  and  her 
cousin,  Prince  Albert  of  Saxe-Coburg,  who  first  visited  her  the  year 
before  she  became  queen,  there  grew  up  a  genuine  love,  such  as 
seldom  comes  to  a  happy  ending  in  the  case  of  princes  and  princesses 
outside  the  fairy  tales.  Albert  was  the  favorite  nephew  of  that  uncle 
Leopold,  who,  it  will  be  remembered,  had  done  so  much  for  Victoria 
in  her  childhood.  He  was  a  young  man  worthy  in  every  way  to  be 
the  husband  of  England's  queen.  On  the  day  of  her  engagement 
she  wrote  to  her  uncle  Leopold,  ' '  My  mind  is  quite  made  up,  and  I 
told  Albert  this  morning  of  it.  The  warm  affection  he  showed  me 
on  learning  this,  gave  me  great  pleasure  He  seems  perfection,  and 
I  think  that  I  have  the  prospect  of  very  great  happiness  before  me. " 
They  were  married  in  i  S40. 

Prince  Albert  devoted  himself  to  the  assistance  of  the  Queen  and 
the  business  of  the  kingdom.  He  was  a  liberal  patron  of  the  fine 
arts  and  did  a  great  deal  to  encourage  education  and  industry.  He 
is  perhaps  best  remembered  by  the  exhibition  at  the  Crystal  Palace 
in  London,  in  1851,  the  first  of  the  series  of  international  exhibitions 
of  which  the  World's  Columbian  Fair,  held  in  Chicago  in  1893,  is 
still  looked  upon  as  the  greatest  in  many  respects. 

In  the  course  of  years  nine  children  came  to  complete  the  royal 
family.  They  were  brought  up  very  simply  and  were  carefully 
educated.  Both  the  Queen  and  the  Prince  always  insisted  that  they 
should  treat  everybody  with  perfect  courtesy. 

One  of  the  little  princesses  was  one  day  carried  on  board  a  yacht 
by  a  sailor.  ' '  There  you  are,  my  little  lady, "  said  the  sailor  as  he 
deposited  his  little  burden  on  the  deck.  "I  am  not  a  little  lady; 
I'm  a  princess, "  retorted  the  little  maiden.  "You  had  better  tell  the 
kind  sailor  who  carried  you  that  you  are  not  a  little  lady  yet, 
though  you  hope  to  be  one  some  day, "  said  the  Queen. 

In  1846  the  Queen  bought  a  summer  home  in  the  Isle  of 
Wight.       It  was  a  beautiful   place  and  brought  welcome  rest  from 


EMPRESS  OF  INDIA, 


the  cares  of  state.  Besides  the  handsome  stone  palace,  she  built  a 
cottage  with  a  kitchen  and  a  dairy  where  her  daughters  learned  to 
cook.  The  boys  had  a  carpenter  shop,  and  all  of  the  nine  children 
had  gardens  which  they  tilled  and  whose  products  they  sold  in  the 
market. 

They  had  also  a  palace  in  Scotland,  where  they  often  went  to 
enjoy  the  mountain  air  and  scenery.  A  great  many  pleasant  stories 
are  told  of  the  Queen's 
kindness  to  the  poor  peo- 
ple in  the  neighborhood. 
She  kept  a  journal  while 
she  was  here  at  different 
times,  which  was  after- 
wards published  under 
the  title  of  ' '  Life  in  the 
Highlands. "  One  of  her 
books  is  dedicated  to  '  'My 
Loyal  Highlanders,  and 
especially -to  the  memory 
of  my  devoted  personal 
attendant  and  faithful 
friend,  John  Brown." 

In  1858  her  eldest 
daughter,  Princess  Vic- 
toria, was  married  to  the 
Crown  Prince  of  Ger- 
many, who  later  became 
the  Emperor  Frederick 
William.  The  separation 
was  a  severe  trial  to  the 

Queen.     The  account  in  her  journal  of  her  farewell  to   "Fritz"  and 
'  'Vicky  "  is  most  touching. 

The  year  1861  brought  the  death  of  both  her  mother  and  her 
husband.  During  the  last  illness  of  the  Prince  an  incident  occurred 
which  particularly  endeared  him  to  Americans.  It  was  in  connec- 
tion with  the  Trent  affair.  In  the  fall  of  1861,  Mason  and  Slidell 
were  sent  by  the  Confederates  as  ambassadors  to  England.     They 


PRINCE   ALBERT'S   TOMB,   LONDON.       IN  THE 
GARDENS    OF    WINDSOR   CASTLE. 


QUEEN    VICTORIA 

succeeded  in  getting  through  the  blockade  and  boarded  the  Trent, 
an  English  vessel.  The  ship  was  stopped  by  Captain  Wilkes,  of  the 
San  Jacinto,  and  the  two  commissioners  were  sent  as  prisoners  to 
Boston.  The  English  were  indignant.  Lord  Palmerston  wrote  a 
dispatch  in  a  haughty  tone,  demanding  the  instant  liberation  of  the 
commissioners.  Prince  Albert  was  so  ill  he  could  scarcely  hold  a 
pen,  but  fearing  the  result  of  such  a  message,  he  caused  himself  to 
be  propped  up  in  bed  and  wrote  a  more  friendly  one.  Our  govern- 
ment promptly  apologized,  as  it  very  likely  would  have  done  in 
any  case,  but  no  less  credit  is  due  to  Prince  Albert.  It  was  the  last 
thing  he  ever  wrote. 

The  Queen's  Jubilee,  commemorating  the  fiftieth  year  of  her 
accession,  was  celebrated  in  1887  with  great  splendor;  and  in  1897 
the  sixtieth  year  of  her  reign  was  made  the  occasion  of  great  rejoic- 
ing both  in  England  and  her  colonies. 

In  April,  1898,  she  visited  Ireland,  where  she  met  a  warm 
welcome  and  much  personal  kindness,  although  the  political  feeling 
on  the  part  of  many  was  bitter  towards  the  English  government. 
This  was  the  last  happy  public  event  of  her  life.  In  1899,  the  storm 
of  war,  which  had  long  been  gathering,  arose  in  South  Africa.  It 
was  a  great  blow  to  the  Queen,  who  had  hoped  that  her  reign  might 
end  in  peace.  She  opposed  the  war  as  long  as  possible,  but  vainly. 
And  when  the  news  began  to  come  of  one  reverse  after  another  to 
the  British  arms,  she  sank  under  the  blow  from  which  she  had  too 
little  strength  to  rally.  She  died  on  the  22d  of  January,  1901.  She 
had  reigned  longer  than  any  other  English  sovereign.  Her  eldest 
son,  Albert  Edward,  was  on  the  following  day  proclaimed  King  of 
Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  and  Emperor  of  India. 

I  have  said  little  of  public  affairs  in  England,  for  this  is  a  sketch 
of  Queen  Victoria  and  not  a  history  of  England.  The  truth  is  that 
English  history  during  these  later  years  has  been  very  little  affected 
by  the  sovereign.  Matters  would  probably  have  gone  on  much  the 
same  with  a  bad  king  or  queen  on  the  throne,  as  the  sovereigns  have 
very  little  power.  They  sign  a  great  many  documents  and  formally 
transact  a  great  deal  of  public  business,  but  the  direction  of  affairs  is 
mainly  in  the  hands  of  the  mifiisters  and  Parliament.  They  have 
considerably  less  power  over  the  making  of  laws  in  Great   Britain 


EMPRESS  OF  INDIA. 


'  QUEEN    VICTORIA 

than  the  President  has  in  this  country.  Had  Queen  Victoria's  own 
death  warrant  been  brought  to  her  by  ParHament  for  her  signature 
she  would  have  been  obHged  to  sign  it  or  descend  from  the  throne. 

During  this  period  the  armies  of  Great  Britain  were  successful  in 
many  parts  of  the  world.  The  Opium  War  forced  the  Chinese  at 
the  point  of  the  bayonet  to  allow  the  importation  of  opium  raised  in 
the  British  possessions  of  India.  I  am  glad  we  may  not  charge  that 
directly  to  Queen  Victoria.  The  English  arms  were  victorious  in  the 
Crimean  War.  Frequent  rebellions  in  India  have  been  crushed,  and 
the  Queen  of  England  was  declared  Empress  of  India  in  1876. 

Great  progress  was  made  in  many  ways  during  the  sixty-three 
years  of  Victoria's  reign.  In  the  year  of  her  marriage  the  postage 
on  letters  was  reduced  to  two  cents  each.  It  had  been  as  high  as 
twenty-five  cents.  Largely  through  the  magnificent  efforts  of  Mr. 
Gladstone,  the  right  of  voting  was  extended  to  a  large  part  of  the 
population,  religious  freedom  was  secured  in  Ireland,  and  Irish  land 
laws  passed  which  greatly  improved  the  condition  of  the  poor  in 
that  country.  The  Atlantic  cable  was  laid  in  1858  and  the  public 
school  system  was  established  in  1870. 

But  though  Queen  Victoria  had  little  to  do  directly  with  these 
great  changes,  the  indirect  influence  of  a  woman  of  genuine  heart  and 
noble  purposes  in  so  prominent  a  position  can  never  be  measured. 
"  The  English  like  queens,"  and  will  continue  to  like  them  so  long  as 
their  good  fortune  brings  such  women  as  Victoria  to  the  throne. 


PRINCE  VON  BISMARCK 


THE  IRON  CHANCELLOR. 


"It  is  not  by  speechifying  and  majorities  that  the  great  questions  of  the  times 
will  have  to  be  decided,  but  by  blood  and  iron." 

— Bisi7iarck. 


'^  N  THE  environs  of  the  famous  old  Prussian  fortress-city  of  Magde- 
^1  burg — with  its  renowned  cathedral,  the  tomb  of  Otto  the  Great,  the 
relics  of  Tilly,  the  tomb  of  Otto  von  Guericke,  inventor  of  the  air- 
pump,  and  its  memories  of  Charlemagne  and  of  Luther — away  back  in  the 
Middle  Ages  or  earlier,  was  built  a  mighty  castle,  so  rich  in  Gothic  archi- 
tecture and  so  embowered  in  lime-trees  and  stately  chestnut-groves  and 
rose-gardens  that  it  was 
called  Schonhausen,  the 
House  Beautiful.  In  the 
Thirty  Years'  War  it  was 
sacked  and  razed  to  the 
ground,  leaving  only  its 
massive  foundations  and 
its  name,  a  name  which 
still  clings  to  its  succes- 
sor and  to  the  village 
that  clusters  about  it. 
This  castle  in  the  middle 
of  the  sixteenth  century 
became  the  home  of  the 
Bismarcks,  a  family  wide- 
ly settled  and  influential 
in  Pomerania  and  Bran- 
denburg. When  the 
House  Beautiful  was  de- 
stroyed they  built  on  its 

^  PRINCE  OTTO  VON   BISMARCK. 


PRINCE    OTTO    VON   BISMARCK. 

foundations  another  home,  Hkewise  called  Schonhausen,  but  anything  but 
beautiful  in  appearance.  It  is  a  massive,  quadrangular  structure,  hard  and 
forbidding  in  appearance,  but  well  fitted  to  be  the  birthplace  of  a  "man  of 
blood  and  iron."  The  doorway  is  merely  a  hole  in  the  wall,  with  no  steps 
or  portico  to  relieve  it.  Within  are  heavy  stone  partitions,  massive  oaken 
doors  and  stairways,  still  bearing  the  marks  of  Bonaparte's  invading  sol- 
diery, secret  doors  and  chambers  and  passageways,  and  a  concealed  under- 
ground passage  leading  to  the  vaults  of  the  village  church.  And  in  this 
stern  mansion  was  born  to  Karl  Wilhelm  Ferdinand  von  Bismarck  and  his 
wife,  Louisa  Wilhelmina  von  Menken,  on  April  i,  1815,  Otto  Edward 
Leopold  now  Prince  von  Bismarck.  The  event  was  announced  to  relatives 
and  friends  of  the  family  in  a  circular,  sent  out  by  the  father,  thus  worded: 

SCHONHAUSEN,  April  2,  1815. 
I  beg  to  inform  all  my  relatives  and  friends  that  my  wife  was  safely  de- 
livered yesterday  of  a  healthy  boy;  and  I  also  beg  them  to  spare  me  their 
congratulations.  FERDINAND  VON  BISMARCK. 


'&' 


Thus  appropriately  was  ushered  into  existence,  just  before  the  first 
Napoleon  went  down  forever  at  Waterloo,  the  man  who  was,  more  than 
half  a  century  later,  to  crush  the  third  Napoleon  forever  at  Sedan. 

The  grimness  and  ruthless  ambition  of  Otto  von  Bismarck  must  have 
come  down  to  him  from  his  ancestors  who  fought  and  suffered  in  the  days 
of  Wallenstein  and  Tilly.  Certainly  they  did  not  appear  in  his  immediate 
parents.  His  father  was  a  handsome,  merry  sportsman  and  courtier.  His 
mother  was  a  proud  and  beautiful  dame  of  the  old  school,  highly  intellectual, 
gifted  with  all  social  graces,  and,  withal,  one  of  the  most  skillful  chess- 
players of  the  time — a  living  refutation  of  the  saying  that  women  cannot 
play  that  game.  Otto  was  the  fourth  of  their  six  children,  of  whom  three 
died  in  infancy,  and  was  regarded  by  his  parents  as  the  hope  of  family 
greatness.  His  father  trained  him  to  ride  like  a  centaur  and  to  shoot  with 
unerring  aim,  saying:  "He  must  be  a  mighty  sportsman;  a  new  Wolf 
Dietrich."  His  mother  taught  him  the  rudiments  of  law  and  of  diplomacy, 
saying:  "He  must  be  a  great  statesman."  Between  the  two  he  grew  up 
equally  robust  in  mind  and  body,  and  year  by  year  showed  more  and  more 
the  traits  of  his  boisterous,  swash-buckler  old  Junker  forefathers.  At  the 
Plamann  Academy,  in  Berlin,  he  was  the  best  scholar  in  his  class  and  the 
worst  law-breaker  in  the  whole  school.  Thence  he  went  to  Gottingen 
University  to  study  jurisprudence,  but  was  a  worse  troubler  of  the  land  than 
ever.     On  one  occasion  he  was  summoned  before  the  dean  to  be  repri- 


THE   IRON   CHANCELLOR. 

manded,  and  with  reckless  audacity  he  strode  into  the  august  presence 
wearing  his  dressing-gown  and  his  big  cavalry  boots,  and  with  a  huge 
mastiff  at  his  heels.  He  got  a  reprimand,  which  he  received  defiantly.  When 
he  was  going  back  to  his  room  he  met  four  young  officers,  with  all  of  whom 
he  quarreled  on  the  spot,  and  with  whom  he  fought  duels  the  next  day. 
In  the  first  year  of  his  university  life  he  fought  twenty-seven  duels,  and  van- 
quished his  opponents  in  all.  However,  he  mastered  his  studies  and  passed 
his  examinations,  and  in  1835  left  the  university  with  a  creditable  record. 

After  a  couple  of  years  spent  in  minor  positions  in  the  public  service,  in 
which  he  distinguished  himself  chiefly  by  reckless  disregard  for  his  duties, 
he  settled  down  on  his  father's  estate  to  lead  the  life  of  a  country  gentleman. 
He  could  ride  better  and  longer,  shoot  better,  drink  more,  and  endure 
more  fatigue  that  any  of  his  neighbors,  and  his  boisterous  habits,  his 
ferocious»practical  jokes  and  generally  ungovernable  disposition  soon  won 
him  the  name  of  "Bismarck  the  Madman."  Then  suddenly  he  changed  his 
course  and  became  an  ascetic  recluse.  He  devoted  himself  to  studying  law, 
history,  and  philosophy,  particularly  the  works  of  Spinoza  and  kindred 
writers.  One  day  during  this  period  of  his  life  he  saved  a  groom  from  death 
at  the  greatest  peril  to  himself,  and  for  the  deed  received  a  medal  from  a 
humane  society.  This  medal  he  wore  with  great  pride,  and  when  a  friend 
noticed  it  one  day,  he  remarked:  "Oh,  I  have  a  habit  of  saving  some  one's 
life  every  now  and  then!"  His  father  died  in  1845,  and  he  then  became  lord 
of  the  manor  of  Schonhausen,  and  began  to  call  himself  Bismarck-Schon- 
hausen,  to  distinguish  himself  from  other  branches  of  his  family.  Two 
years  later  he  married  Johanna  von  Puttkammer,  a  young  lady  of  marked 
beauty  and  accomplishments.  His  first  advances  toward  her  were  rejected 
by  her  family  because  of  his  madcap  habits,  but  when  he  settled  doiwn  to 
study  Spinoza  they  agreed  to  the  match.  He  was,  and  has  ever  been, 
deeply  devoted  to  her.  Amid  all  the  cares  of  war  and  statecraft,  w^hen 
absent  on  long  campaigns,  he  has  never  omitted  to  write  to  her  daily  words 
of  tenderness.  In  fact,  he  has  ever  been  a  model  husband.  Referring  to  the 
years  before  his  marriage,  when  he  was  known  as  "Bismarck  the  Madman," 
he  says:  "I  cannot  now  imagine  how  I  endured  such  a  life.  If  I  had  to  live 
now  as  I  did  then,  without  God,  without  wife,  without  children,  I  think  I 
should  cast  off  'this  mortal  coil'  Hke  a  soiled  garment."  This  devotion  to 
his  wife  is  the  more  remarkable  since  he  has  a  profound  contempt  for  women 
in  general.  "They  were  only  created,"  he  once  remarked,  "to  breed  babies 
and  bake  bread." 

His  first  appearance  in  politics  occurred  in  1847,  "^vhen  he  became  a 
member  of  the  Prussian  Landtag.     At  that  time  there  was  much  unrest. 


PRINCE    OTTO    VON    BISMARCK 

and  agitation  in  favor  of  a  more  liberal  system  of  government,  to  which 
King  William  IV. — a  simple-minded  monarch — was  much  inclined  to  yield. 
Otto  von  Bismarck  at  once  allied  himself  with  the  ultra-Conservatives  and 
opposed  with  all  his  might  everything  that  savored  of  Liberalism  or  Con- 
stitutionalism. As  the  conflict  waxed  hotter,  the  king  summoned  a  United 
Diet.  In  that  body  the  Liberals  worked  hard  to  secure  a  Constitution. 
"We  fought  in  1813,"  said  a  member  one  day,  ''for  freedom  from  foreign 
foes,  and  we  saved  the  throne  and  the  state.  We  have  a  right  now  to  de- 
mand greater  freedom  in  domestic  matters."  Thereupon,  up  sprang  a 
huge,  stalwart  man,  with  ruddy  face  and  flowing  yellow  beard  and  piercing 
eyes  under  shaggy  brows,  and  ascended  the  tribune  to  speak  in  reply.  His 
speech  was  a  fierce  and  scathing  attack  upon  liberalism  and  democracy, 
couched  in  the  language  of  a  mediccval  dictator.  So  strong  was  his  denun- 
ciation of  the  demand  for  a  Constitution  that  the  Conservatives  themselves 
were  startled,  while  the  Liberals  sprang  to  their  feet  with  a  tempest  of  hisses 
and  indignant  outcries.  The  speaker  glanced  at  them  contemptuously,  drew 
a  newspaper  from  his  pocket,  and  leaning  in  an  easy  attitude  read  to  him- 
self till  order  was  restored,  and  then  resumed  his  speech.  This  was  Otto 
von  Bismarck's  first  public  appearance,  and  it  made  him  a  marked  man 
in  the  world.  Thenceforth  he  was  the  leader  of  Conservatism,  the  arch-foe 
of  the  Liberal  cause,  and  when,  in  1848,  the  revolution  constrained  the  king 
to  call  a  new  Parliament  and  grant  a  Constitution,  he  retired  to  his  home 
in  disgust.  He  soon  came  back,  however,  to  renew  the  fight  in  Parliament, 
and  vigorously  opposed  the  reconstruction  of  the  Constitution  proposed  by 
the  Frankfort  Assembly  of  1849.  ^t  was  a  conflict,  he  declared,  between 
order  and  disorder.  Such  a  conflict,  he  said,  "was  not  to  be  settled  by 
debates  and  majorities,  but  by  blood  and  iron."  "Sooner  or  later,  the  God 
of  Battles  must  cast  the  die."  At  that  time  he  proclaimed  his  political 
principles,  the  principles  to  which  he  has  held  true  all  his  life.  Orthodox 
religion  and  military  discipline  must  prevail.  The  divine  right  of  the  king 
to  rule  must  be  unquestioned.  Parliament  might  be  tolerated  as  a  debating 
club  to  amuse  the  people,  but  the  Hohenzollern  dyi^sty  must  be  the  center 
of  the  state.  Instead  of  a  feeble  league  of  petty  states  dominated  by  Austria, 
all  of  North  Germany  must  become  one  empire,  under  the  domination  of 
Prussia.  Loyalty  to  the  king  was  the  pole-star  of  his  life.  One  day  in  a 
beer  shop  he  heard  some  one  speak  disrespectfully  of  a  member  of  the 
royal  family.  "Get  out  of  this  house!"  thundered  Bismarck.  "Out,  before 
I  smash  this  glass  over  your  head!"  Then  draining  the  beer,  he  brought 
the  heavy  mug  down  furiously  upon  the  offender,  breaking  skull  and  glass 
together.    Then  he  asked  quietly,  "Waiter,  shall  I  pay  for  the  broken  glass?" 


THE   IRON   CHANCELLOR. 

His  diplomatic  career  began  in  1851,  as  Prussian  Alinister  to  the 
Frankfort  Diet,  where  he  stubbornly  opposed  the  pretensions  of  Austria. 
Thence  he  went  on  diplomatic  errands  to  Vienna  and  Buda-Pesth,  and  to 
various  German  courts,  and  in  1855  to  Paris.  Four  years  later  he  was 
Ambassador  at  St.  Petersburg.  From  that  city  he  wrote  to  the  Foreign 
Minister  at  Berlin:  "Jn  our  Federal  Alliance  Prussia  suffers  from  a  disease 
which  one  of  these  days  must  be  healed  with  fire  and  sword."  In  1862  he 
became  for  a  brief  space  Ambassador  at  Paris,  and  during  4:hat  time  went 
over  to  London  and  had  a  long  talk  with  Lord  Palmerston  about  crushing 
Austria,  a  plan  he  had  been  cherishing  ever  since  he  went  to  Frankfort  in 
185 1.  He  also  made  the  acquaintance  of  Prosper  IMerimee,  who  wrote  of 
him:  "He  is  apparently  utterly  destitute  of  soul,  but  is  all  mind.  *  *  * 
His  wife  has  the  largest  feet  beyond  the  Rhine,  and  his  daughter  walks  in 
her  mother's  foot-steps."  Meantime  King  William  H.  had  come  to  the 
Prussian  throne.  He  and  Bismarck  had  met  first  just  after  the  latter  left 
Gottingen,  at  a  ball,  and  William  had  remarked  upon  the  young  lawyer's 
heroic  mould  of  form.  Now  he  had  become  king,  he  sent  for  Bismarck 
to  be  his  chief  adviser  and  Minister-President  of  Prussia.  This  was  the 
beginning  of  a  new  and  most  important  era  in  his  career  and  in  the  history 
of  Germany  and  all  Europe. 

The  position  of  the  minister  was  a  difficult  one  to  fill.  At  home  he  was 
confronted  by  the  powerful  Liberal  party,  which  delighted  in  thwarting 
his  plans.  It  was  bent  on  extending  the  constitutional  system,  which  Bis- 
marck hated;  and  on  keeping  down  the  military  system,  which  he  loved. 
Abroad  he  was  menaced  on  the  one  hand  by  Austria,  planning  to  get  control 
of  all  the  German  states;  and  on  the  other  by  France,  coveting  the  Rhenish 
provinces  and  Belgium.  By  clever  diplomacy  he  contrived  to  postpone  the 
inevitable  conflict  with  these  foreign  powers  to  a  more  convenient  season. 
At  home  he  ruled  with  an  iron  hand.  Parliament  insisted  upon  having  full 
control  of  all  appropriations  for  the  military  service.  Bismarck  held  that 
the  Crown  had  a  right  to  take  whatever  it  pleased.  For  a  time  there  was 
a  deadlock,  and  then  Bismarck  contemptuously  dissolved  Parliament,  tell- 
ing them  to  go  home,  and  he  would  manage  affairs  alone.  This  arbitrary 
conduct  made  him  terribly  unpopular,  and  the  public  feeling  against  him 
was  much  intensified  when  Prussia,  on  his  personal  responsibility,  joined 
Russia  in  suppressing  the  Polish  insurrection  of  1863.  He  replied  that  the 
government  had  a  right  to  wage  war  with  or  without  the  consent  of  Par- 
liament, and  would  continue  to  do  so.  Soon  after  this,  however,  he  gained 
much  favor  by  bringing  the  Schleswig-Holstein  affair  to  a  successful  con- 
clusion.    By  clever  management  he  kept  all  other  powers  from  interfering; 


PRINCE   OTTO    VON   BISMARCK. 

caused  Austria  to  bear  most  of  the  odium  for  the  aggression  upon  helpless 
Denmark,  and  then  secured  all  the  valuable  fruits  of  victory  for  Prussia. 
Securing  Schleswig  and  Holstein  as  Prussian  provinces,  however,  was  but 
a  small  part  of  his  plan.  His  great  aim  was  to  quarrel  with  Austria,  and 
he  succeeded  in  irritating  that  power  to  such  an  extent  that  in  1866  war 
was  declared  against  Prussia  by  Austria,  Saxony,  Hanover  and  Hesse.  This 
was  just  what  he  wanted.  Within  a  week  the  Prussian  armies  overran,  dis- 
armed and  completely  subjugated  the  three  smaller  states  named,  and 
within  two  months  they  had  invaded  Bohemia,  crushed  the  Austrian  armies 
at  Sadowa,  and  dictated  peace  on  Bismarck's  own  terms.  Those  terms  were, 
that  the  German  League  was  to  be  dissolved;  a  North  German  Confedera- 
tion under  Prussian  domination  established;  and  Schleswig-Holstein, 
Hanover,  Hesse  and  a  large  part  of  Saxony  annexed  to  the  kingdom  of 
Prussia.  Thus  Austria  was  crushed,  Prussia  was  made  the  chief  German 
power,  and  Bismarck,  who  had  been  with  the  arrriy  all  through  the  cam- 
paign, was  thenceforth  after  the  king  himself  the  most  popular  man  in 
Prussia. 

"Sixteen  years  ago,"  said  Bismarck  at  this  time,  'T  was  living  as  a 
country  gentleman,  when  the  king  appointed  me  as  the  Envoy  of  Prussia 
at  the  Frankfort  Diet.  I  had  been  brought  up  to  admire,  I  might  almost 
gay  to  worship,  the  Austrian  policy.  Much  time,  however,  was  not  needed 
to  dispel  my  youthful  illusions  with  regard  to  Austria,  and  I  became  her 
declared  opponent.  The  humiliation  of  my  country;  Germany  sacrificed 
to  the  interests  of  a  foreign  nation;  a  crafty  and  perfidious  line  of  policy; — 
these  were  not  things  calculated  to  give  me  satisfaction.  I  did  not  know 
that  the  future  would  call  upon  me  to  take  any  important  part  in  public 
events;  but  from  that  time  I  conceived  the  idea,  which  I  am  still  working 
out — the  idea  of  withdrawing  Germ.any  from  Austrian  pressure;  at  any 
rate  that  part  of  Germany  W'hose  tone  of  thought,  religion,  manners  and 
interests  identify  her  destinies  with  those  of  Prussia — I  mean  Northern  Ger- 
many. In  my  plan  there  has  been  no  question  of  overthrowing  thrones,  of 
taking  a  duchy  from  one  ruler  or  some  petty  domain  from  another.  *  *  * 
But  neither  all  this,  nor  the  opposition  I  have  had  to  meet  with  in  Prussia 
could  prevent  my  devoting  myself,  heart  and  soul,  to  the  idea  of  a  Northern 
Germany  constituted  in  her  logical  and  natural  form  under  the  a^gis  of 
Prussia."  In  this  stupendous  task  the  conflict  with  Denmark  w^as  the  first 
step.  The  second,  and  far  greater,  was  the  war  with  Austria  and  its  re- 
sults.   The  third  now  came  on  apace. 

Bismarck — now  Chancellor  of  the  North  German  Confederation — had 
been  anxious  about  the  attitude  of  France  in  1866.     He  did  not  dare  fight 


THE   IRON   CHANCELLOR. 

her  and  Austria  together.  Neither  would  he  purchase  French  neutrality  by 
a  promise  of  ceding  any  German  territory  to  her.  But  by  skillful  agencies 
he  contrived  to  persuade  the  French  emperor  that  Prussia  would  be  beaten 
by  Austria.  Napoleon  therefore  made  no  preparations  to  aid  the  latter, 
deeming  Prussia's  discomfiture  certain.  And  when  it  became  evident  that 
the  contrary  result  was  inevitable  there  was  not  time  enough  left  for  him 
to  do  anything  before  the  war  ended  at  Sadowa.  This  discomfiture  terribly 
rankled  in  the  emperor's  breast,  and  he  began  seeking  a  cause  for  going  to 
war  with  Prussia,  stupidly  failing  to  perceive  that  that  was  just  what  Bis- 
marck wanted,  and  that  the  Chancellor  was  now  luring  France  on  to  her 
ruin  just  as  he  had  enticed  Austria.  After  an  ineffectual  attempt  to  get  up 
a  war  about  Luxemburg,  and  again  about  the  St.  Gothard  railroad,  France 
found  her  opportunity  in  the  candidature  of  Prince  Leopold  of  Hohen- 
zollern  for  the  Spanish  throne,  and  war  was  declared  against  Prussia  in 
July,  1870,  Bismarck  announcing  the  fact  to  the  Reichstag  on  the  19th  of 
that  month.  He  had  so  craftily  managed  the  business  that  France  was  ap- 
parently the  aggressor  in  every  detail.  At  the  first  of  August  Bismarck  set 
out  for  the  seat  of  war  with  the  king;  he  was  present  at  most  of  the  great 
battles;  at  the  first  of  September  he  arranged  the  surrender  of  Napoleon 
at  Sedan;  and  in  October  he  established  his  headquarters  at  Versailles,  where 
he  carried  on  his  life-work  of  transforming  the  North  German  Confedera- 
tion into  the  German  Empire.  This  work  was  accomplished  on  January 
18,  1871,  when,  in  the  ancient  Hall  of  Mirrors  at  Versailles,  in  the  presence 
of  the  monarchs  of  Germany  with  the  King  of  Bavaria  at  their  head,  the 
King  of  Prussia  was  formally  and  solemnly  crowned  German  Emperor, 
Bismarck  himself  standing  by  the  throne  and  reading  the  proclamation  of 
imperial  sovereignty,  and  himself  the  next  day  being  nominated  Chancellor 
of  the  Empire.  On  February  26  Bismarck  dictated  terms  of  peace  to 
France,  including  the  cession  of  Alsace  and  Lorraine  to  Germany  and  the 
payment  of  an  enormous  war  indemnity.  On  June  16,  clad  in  the  uniform 
of  his  regiment,  the  Magdeburg  Cuirassiers,  he  rode  at  the  head  of  the  grand 
triumphal  procession  of  returning  armies  through  the  streets  of  Berlin; 
IMaltke,  the  field  marshal,  and  Roon,  the  war  minister,  at  his  side;  the 
emperor  riding  just  behind. 

No  sooner  was  the  Empire  well  established  than  trouble  arose  in  a  new 
quarter.  The  two  great  Roman  Catholic  powers,  Austria  and  France,  had 
just  been  humbled,  and  the  Catholic  states  of  Germany  were  dominated  by 
Protestant  Prussia.  At  the  same  time  the  doctrine  of  Papal  Infallibility 
was  put  forward  at  Rome,  and  it  became  evident  that  a  conflict  between  the 
Roman  Church  and  the  German  Empire  was  at  hand.    The  Romanists  in 


PRINCE    OTTO    VON   BISMARCK 

Germany  had  strongly  opposed  the  formation  of  the  Empire,  and  Prince 
Bismarck  in  return  had  threatened  to  secularize  their  religious  institutions. 
Finally,  in  1872,  Bismarck  secured  the  passage  of  a  laAV  suppressing  the 
Jesuits  and  kindred  orders  throughout  the  Empire,  and  he  saw  to  it  that  this 
law  was  executed.  The  Bishops  resisted,  and  in  consequence  were  heavily 
fined,  imprisoned,  or  exiled,  and  state  aid  was  withdrawn  from  the  Church 
institutions.  The  Pope  wrote  personally  to  the  emperor,  begging  him  to 
intervene  in  behalf  of  the  Church,  but  the  emperor  declined  to  do  so,  and 
the  laws  were  vigorously  enforced.  Other  laws  were  also  adopted,  regulat- 
ing religious  institution  in  schools,  etc.,  and  the  conflict  over  them  became 
so  bitter  that  all  diplomatic  relations  with  Rome  were  broken  off,  and 
Bismarck  went  so  far  as  to  address  a  circular  letter  to  the  other  governments 
of  Europe,  inviting  them  to  join  him  in  an  international  league  against  what 
he  regarded  as  Papal  pretensions.  To  this  extraordinary  proposal  no  re- 
sponse was  made,  and  Bismarck  found  that  his  position  was  not  altogether 
tenable.  So  on  the  accession  of  Pope  Leo  XIII.  he  agreed  to  negotiations 
for  a  compromise;  diplomatic  relations  with  the  Vatican  were  resumed,  and 
eventually  the  laws  were  modified. 

Ever  since   Sedan   Prince   Bismarck  became  the   dominant   figure  in 
European  diplomacy.     Berlin  has  been  the  center  from  which  the  policy  of 
every  government  has  been  influenced.     He  built  up  an  enormous  German 
army,  and  corresponding  armies  have  been  developed  in  France,  Russia, 
Austria  and  Italy,  until  Europe  seems  to  be  one  mighty  armed  camp.    Yet 
his  influence  was  constantly  for  peace.     Again  and  again  Prince  Bismarck's 
word  has  checked  movements  that  would  have  precipitated  a  general  Euro- 
pean war.     To  maintain  the  balance  of  power  in  Europe,  with  Germany 
at  the  head,  was  his  aim,  and  he  succeeded;  but  it  seems  certain  that  he  has 
only  postponed  the  inevitable  crash,  which  will  be  all  the  more  tremendous 
when  it  comes,  the  longer  it  is  postponed.    He  for  years  maintained  a  close 
alliance  with  Austria,  and  afterward  with  Russia  also.     Lately  Italy  took 
Russia's  place  in  the  Triple  Alliance,  and  Russia  was  considered  the  ally  of 
France  against  Germany.    Friendly  relations  with  England  were  maintained, 
though  not  without  some  irritation  between  the    two    countries,    arising 
partly  from  circumstances  connected  with  the  death  of  Emperor  Frederick 
HI.  and  partly  from  Germany's  colonial  schemes  coming  in  contact  with 
those  of  England.     Early  in  1888  the  old  Emperor  William  I.  died,  and  his 
son,  Frederick  HI.,  succeeded  him.     Between  Frederick  and  Bismarck  no 
cordial  friendship  existed,  Frederick  being  strongly  liberal  in  his  views  and 
opposed  to  Bismarck's  autocracy  and  militarism.     The  animosity  between 
them  was  deepened  by  Bismarck's  unconcealed  hatred  of  Frederick's  Eng- 


THE   IRON   CHANCELLOR. 

lish  wife,  a  princess  of  the  noblest  character  and  highest  attainments.  Bis- 
marck hated  anything  that  looked  like  a  woman  taking  part  in  public 
affairs,  and  when  Frederick  died  after  a  reign  of  a  few  months,  he  exclaimed 
exultantly,  "Now  we  shall  have  no  more  petticoats  in  politics!"  The  pres- 
ent emperor,  William  11. ,  is  a  man  after  Bismarck's  own  heart  and  under 
his  reign  the  "Iron  Chancellor"  was  the  real  ruler  of  the  empire  and  the 
arbiter  of  all  Europe  until  his  death.  In  domestic  affairs  Prince  Bismarck 
paid  most  attention  to  economic  measures.  He  fostered  home  industries 
by  establishing  a  protective  tariff  system.  He  planted  colonies  in  all  parts 
of  the  world  in  order  to  give  the  overcrowded  population  of  Germany  a 
chance  to  emigrate  without  leaving  the  shelter  of  the  German  flag.  Social- 
istic agitation  was  stringently  repressed.  A  few  years  before  his  death  he 
formulated  a  plan  for  the  compulsory  life-insurance  of  artisans  by  the  state, 
which  is  said  to  be  working  well.  His  great  fame,  however,  will  rest  upon 
his  foreign  policy  and,  above  all,  his  incomparable  life-work  of  creating  the 
Empire  of  United  Germany. 

Personally  the  Prince  showed  but  few  traces  of  ''Bismarck  the  Alad- 
man."  He  was  genial,  witty,  in  a  grim  sort  of  fashion;  a  good  companion, 
a  faithful  friend,  and  an  implacable  enemy.  He  was  devoted  to  his  home 
and  to  his  family,  and  no  scandals  ever  blemished  his  private  record.  His 
wife  was  a  worthy  helpmate  of  so  great  a  man.  Their  only  daughter. 
Countess  Rantzau,  is  a  woman  of  great  force  of  character  and  was  a  favorite 
companion  of  her  father  for  many  years.  The  oldest  son,  Count  Herbert 
Bismarck,  has  risen  to  be  the  most  influential  minister  in  the  empire  after 
his  father,  and  is  universally  regarded  as  his  father's  successor  in  the  actual 
rule  of  the  empire.  He  resembles  his  father  in  many  respects,  but  not  in 
personal  morals.  They  have  one  other  child,  Count  William,  who  has  be- 
come an  eminent  army  officer.  Prince  Bismarck's  personal  popularity  was, 
after  1866,  unbounded.  In  every  conceivable  way  the  German  people 
again  and  again  manifested  their  admiration  and  affection  for  him,  until 
the  word  applied  to  Washington  might  with  equal  truth  be  applied  to  him, 
though  for  far  different  reasons — "First  in  peace,  first  in  war,  and  first  in 
the  hearts  of  his  countrymen." 

Such,  briefly,  is  the  story  of  Bismarck's  work.  Stern,  unbending,  hard- 
hearted, even  cruel  in  the  carrying  out  of  his  purpose,  yet  he  was  simple 
in  his  habits,  an  early  riser,  an  indefatigable  worker,  and  punctual  to  a  second 
in  his  appointments.  He  was  a  man  of  strong  religious  convictions,  a  be- 
liever in  and  teacher  of  Christianity,  a  lover  of  home,  a  good  husband  and 
an  indulgent  father.  When  he  died,  July  30,  1898,  all  the  world  mourned 
his  loss. 


NAPOLEON  BONAPARTE 

EMPEROR  OF  FRANCE. 

"There  sunk  the  greatest,  nor  the  worst  of  men. 
Whose  spirit  antithetically  mixed 
One  moment  of  the  mightiest,  and  again 
On  little  objects  with  like  firmness  fixed, 
Extreme  in  all  things!  hadst  thou  been  betwixt, 
Thy  throne  had  still  been  thine,  or  never  been ; 
For  daring  made  thy  rise  as  fall." 

— Lord  Byron. 

'^  T  IS  singular,  in  the  light  of  subsequent  events,  that  Napoleon  could 
^1  be  agitated  and  moved  by  the  affairs  of  the  island  of  Corsica,  where 
he  was  born.  Napoleon  was  an  Italian,  not  a  Frenchman.  He 
became  French  by  an- 
nexation of  Corsica  to 
France. 

Even  after  he  had 
received  military  train- 
ing in  France,  his 
island  home  chained 
his  attention.  As  his 
family  was  of  noble  birth 
and  prominent,  he  was 
of  necessity  involved  in 
the  turmoil  incident  to 
the  upheaval  of  the  age. 
His  family  and  himself 
had  espoused  the  un- 
popular side  in  the 
struggle  in  Corsica  and 
were  compelled  to  flee 
to  France. 

The  troubles  in 
France  saved  him  from 
being  shot.  He  had 
outstayed  his  furlough 
in  Corsica  in  the  hope 


■■rfp 


t**""~ 


NAPOLEON 
86 


IN    EGYPT. 


EMPEROR   OF   FRANCE. 

of  obtaining  high  position  there.  The  penalty  for  such  conduct  in  time  of 
war  was  death  and  France  was  at  war.  But  events  of  large  importance  over- 
shadowed his  lengthened  furlough  and  the  need  of  trained  officers  made 
him  welcome. 

In  his  initial  services  in  southern  France,  he  showed  such  aptitude  that 
he  was  called  upon  to  reduce  Paris  to  order.  Nearly  all  the  officers  were 
at  the  frontiers,  so  that  he  was  almost  alone.  He  became  the  war  adviser 
of  the  Robespierres  and  made  himself  invaluable  as  a  councillor  to  the 
Directory  in  matters  of  war.  So  that  his  flight  from  Corsica,  which  seemed 
an  end  to  his  career,  was  the  most  fortunate  thing  possible  for  him. 

The  second  stage  of  his  career  began  when  he  was  placed  at  the  head 
of  the  Army  of  Italy.  He  perceived  that  the  enemy  should  be  attacked 
from  Italy.  His  bold  plan  of  campaign,  his  independence  in  carrying  it 
out,  were  the  factors  which  led  finally  to  his  supreme  position  as  Emperor. 

France  was  poor,  she  had  no  money  to  pay  the  army.  Napoleon,  by  his 
splendid  strategy,  overcame  the  armies  opposed  to  him  and  both  fed  and 
paid  the  soldiers  by  the  spoils  and  exactions  of  his  wars.  In  this  way  he 
became  unconsciously  independent  of  his  nation.  Everything  in  his  army 
centered  about  him.  He  commanded,  paid,  fed  and  clothed  the  men.  He 
made  treaties  without  instructions  from  the  government.  In  the  splendor 
of  his  success,  no  one  noticed  this  at  first.  Even  he  did  not  comprehend 
the  significance  of  his  work.  The  battle  of  Marengo,  paralyzed  the  Aus- 
trians,  electrified  his  countrymen,  dumfounded  the  world.  Marengo  was 
his  sunburst  of  glory.  It  completed  the  second  stage  of  his  marvelous 
career.  Up  to  this  point,  we  may  say  that  his  aims  were  legitimate.  He 
had  married  Josephine  Beauharnais,  whom  he  sincerely  loved  and  by  whom 
he  was  devotedly  loved  in  turn.  He  desired  only  to  emancipate  his  country. 
But  after  a  time,  revenge  and  false  ambitions  possessed  him. 

We  may  say  that  he  enters  on  the  third  stage  of  his  career  in  his 
attempts  to  break  the  power  of  England.  For  this  reason,  he  engaged  on 
the  Egyptian  campaign.  He  said  that  a  power  occupying  Egypt  could 
menace  India  and  wreck  the  British  power.  He  did  not  realize  how  hope- 
less that  was  till  Nelson  destroyed  his  fleet  in  Egyptian  waters.  This  tied 
him  up  with  the  flower  of  the  French  army  when  all  were  really  needed  at 
home.  Events  were  going  from  bad  to  worse  in  France  and  escaping  with 
a  few  officers  and  men,  he  landed  on  his  native  soil  to  be  heralded  as  the 
strong  man  of  the  hour. 

The  nations  of  the  world  were  glad  to  have  any  one  bring  peace  to,  that 
unhappy  country.  His  advent  was  heralded  with  pleasure  by  a'l  thf  courts 
of  Europe.    They  felt  that  he  could  harmonize  all  elements  and  brinj-v  Cut  a 


NAPOLEON   BONAPARTE 

stable  government.  It  is  here  the  germ  of  his  independent  course  in  Italy 
began  to  show  itself.  Men  had  accustomed  themselves  to  thinking  of  him  as 
acting  brilliantly  and  independently.  With  this  feeling  they  sent  down  a 
request  to  the  people  to  act  on  the  suggestion  that  Napoleon  Bonaparte 
should  be  elected  First  Consul  of  France  for  life,  and  the  people  made  him 
Dictator.  The  army  was  accustomed  to  it  and  it  was  the  will  of  the  army. 
We  know  from  the  Dreyfus  case  how^  powerful  the  army  is.  This  was  the 
fourth  period  of  his  life.  It  was  not  difBcult  for  him,  after  this,  to  overawe 
the  Senate  and  to  proclaim  himself  Emperor  by  means  of  servile  followers 
and  admiring  troops. 

Ambition  now  has  full  sway.  He  dreams  of  establishing  his  house  and 
name  by  marriage  with  a  royal  family.  He  sets  Josephine  aside.  From  this 
moment  fortune  steadily  forsakes  him.  He  plays  with  kingdoms  and 
thrones,  forms  kingdoms  and  dissolves  them,  but  he  is  inevitably  weaving  the 
web  of  his  adverse  fate. 

The  House  of  Austria  is  at  first  reluctant  to  bestow  one  of  their 
princesses  upon  him,  but  when  it  is  seen  that  he  has  turned  to  Russia  for  the 
same  purpose,  Austria  repents,  and  the  union  is  formed  between  ]Marie 
Louise  of  Austria  and  Napoleon.  A  son  is  born  to  them,  March  20th,  181 1, 
who  is  given  the  title  of  King  of  Rome.  He  was  now  at  the  pinnacle  of  his 
power.  What  will  he  do  with  it?  He  begins  those  series  of  misjudgments 
which  end  his  career.  In  his  disregard  for  nationalities,  he  interferes  in 
Spain.  A  national  spirit  is  aroused  there,  which,  with  the  help  of  English 
troops,  occupies  150,000  French  soldiers,  himself  and  some  of  his  best  gen- 
erals. This  is  unfortunate,  because  Germany's  hopes  and  courage  are  re- 
viving. She  is  bound  to  make  a  final  struggle,  and  the  absence  of  150,000 
troops  favors  her. 

The  marriage  with  the  House  of  Austria  makes  his  ally,  Russia,  sus- 
picious and  sensitive.  She  begins  to  halt.  When  Napoleon  desires  Russia 
to  exclude  all  neutral  ships  from  her  ports,  Russia  declines.  The  tension 
grows  till  Napoleon  marches  at  the  head  of  the  grand  army  into  Russian 
territory.  Strategists  have  told  us  of  the  brilliant  tactics  of  the  Russian 
generals.  Their  retreat  was  not  strategy;  it  was  panic,  and  the  Czar  was  full 
of  despair. 

The  burning  of  ^Moscow  itself  was  due  no  doubt  to  the  lawlessness  of 
camp  followers  and  soldiers  as  much  as  anything  else.  Russia  did  not  re- 
ceive it  at  first  as  a  national  sacrifice,  but  as  an  unmeasured  horror  and  calam- 
ity.    . 

Winter  and  the  desertion  of  the  allies  completed  Napoleon's  disasters. 

Winter  was  near  at  hand;   he  could  not  follow  the  disheartened  Czar.   The 


EMPEROR    OF    FRANCE. 

Germans,  particularly  Stein,  pleaded  with  the  ruler,  and  he  refused  to 
capitulate.  And  whilst  Napoleon  waited  for  the  decision  of  Russia,  the  snows 
came  and  the  Grand  Army  melted  away. 

Germany  revolted;  Austria  rose  again.  When  the  Poles  came  to  him, 
on  his  march  to  Moscow,  asking  him  to  make  their  country  free,  there  was 
his  opportunity.  That  would  have  filled  Russia  with  her  own  troubles.  He 
could  have  compensated  Prussia  and  Austria  in  other  directions.  But  as  he 
declared  the  whole  Russian  campaign  to  be  a  fatality,  so  were  its  minor  in- 
cidents. Moscow  showed  that  Napoleon  was  vulnerable,  and  in  that  con- 
sciousness Europe  arose,  invading  France  to  redeem  it  from  its  Emperor. 
Napoleon  was  exiled  to  Elba.  But  he  could  not  remain  there;  landing  in 
France,  the  nation  rallied  around  him.  But  circumstances  were  changed. 
Europe  knew  its  power,  knew  also  the  tactics  of  Napoleon.  The  nations 
rallied  with  confidence  to  give  him  battle.  They  knew  his  fighting  force  was 
greatly  diminished. 

In  Wellington  a  leader  was  secured,  who  knew  that  if  an  army  w'ould 
stand  the  brilliant  rushes  of  Napoleon's  superb  troops  the  day  would  be 
won.  Therefore  Wellington  stood  at  Waterloo,  and  Napoleon  simply 
pounded  the  French  army  to  pieces  on  the  British  squares. 

After  his  defeat  at  Waterloo,  his  life  was  not  safe  in  France.  With 
unerring  instinct  he  surrendered  to  the  British.  That  was  the  only  hope  of 
saving  his  life.  The  AIoscow  campaign  had  filled  Russia  with  horror;  the 
long,  insupportable  degradation  of  Germany  by  the  French  troops  had 
filled  the  land  with  agony,  tears  and  blood.  His  only  hope  was  England, 
but  she  was  compelled,  as  the  ally  of  Europe,  to  send  him  to  St.  Helena.  He 
reached  the  island  October  15th,  1815,  and  deceased  ]\Iay  5th,  1821.  He  was 
born  at  Agaccio,  August  15th,  1769,  and  consequently  his  career  was  em- 
braced within  the  space  of  forty-seven  years. 

When  he  came  to  St.  Helena  he  said:  "Gentlemen,  we  have  this  satis- 
faction, the  eyes  of  the  world  are  upon  us."  His  life  seems  like  a  dream  and 
his  exile  a  silent  tragedy. 


WILLIAM  McKlNLEY 


THE  PEOPLE'S   PRESIDENT 


HE  life  of  William  McKinley  is  that  of  an  American  boy  who 
made  the  best  of  his  opportunities,  constantly  striving  for 
better,  with  no  vain  regrets,  but  a  constant  willingness  to  work 

that  he  might  learn.    His       ____________________ 

life-story  is  fit  to  include     ((^   •    •    ^    ^    ^    ^        ^    •  ])^ 

in  every  text-book,  not 
only  as  an  inspiration  to 
the  young,  but  as  a  re- 
minder of  the  possibili- 
ties of  American  citizen- 
ship. He  was  born  at 
Niles,  Ohio,  in  1843.  He 
came  from  an  ancestry 
who  in  times  of  peace 
were  foremost  in  industry, 
and  in  days  of  war  always 
at  the  front.  On  his 
father's  side  his  people 
were  Highland  Scotch, 
brawny  and  brainy  men, 
who  needed  only  the  op- 
portunities and  enlighten- 
ment of  education.  They 
were  a  sturdy  set,  with 
a  determined  though  im- 
perfectly developed  idea 
of  freedom.  Liberty  of  conscience  was  real  with  them,  and  they 
left  the  Highlands  for  the  north  of  Ireland,  seeking  independence, 
later  coming  to  America  for  greater  liberty. 


r  WILLIAM   McKINLEY 

James  McKinley,  the  great-grandfather  of  William,  was  a  fine 
Scotch-Irish  lad  of  twelve  -years  when  he  came  to  America.  One 
William  McKinley  came  to  America  with  James,  and  settled  in  the 
South,  where  his  descendants  have  been  and  are  still  men  of  distinc- 
tion. David  McKinley,  the  grandfather,  was  a  Revolutionary  soldier, 
one  of  the  sort  not  remembered  in  history,  except  under  the  grand 
classification  of  privates,  though  he  fought  with  gallantry  at  Brandy- 
wine,  Germantown  and  Monmouth.  His  son  William,  father  of  our 
martyred  president,  was  a  sensible,  industrious  and  prosperous  iron 
manufacturer,  who  died  at  Canton  at  the  ripe  old  age  of  eighty-five. 

On  his  grandmother's  side  McKinley  came  of  equally  good  and 
sturdy  stock.  His  mother,  Mary  Rose,  was  the  granddaughter  of 
Andrew  Rose,  Sr,,  who  came  to  America  with  William  Penn,  and 
was  one  of  the  representatives  of  the  thirteen  colonies  before  the 
war  of  the  Revolution.  Andrew  Rose,  Sr.,  did  more  than  double 
duty  in  the  war  for  freedom  against  Great  Britain.  He  not  only 
fought,  but  made  weapons  to  fight  with.  This  is  an  ancestry  typically 
American,  one  of  soldiers  and  workers  for  the  country's  welfare  and 
wealth  and  McKinley's  good  fortune  cast  his  lot  in  a  happy  home, 
where  a  true  mother  imbued  the  children  with  love  of  God  and  of 
country.  The  McKinleys  and  the  families  into  which  they  married 
were  all  industrious,  hard-working  people,  religiously  inclined, 
patriots  and  pioneers — a  hardy  race  that  battled  with  difficulty  and 
helped  in  carving  a  civilization  out  of  a  wilderness. 

The  lines  of  activity  pursued  by  his  forefathers  were  such  as  to 
leave  their  impress  upon  the  offspring.  Much  as  President  McKin- 
ley owes  to  his  own  energy,  yet  the  tendency  to  study,  to  activity, 
and  to  perseverance  was  inherited.  Inheritance,  however,  was  not 
everything.  He  had  opportunities  for  application,  and  he  did  not 
neglect  them.  He  had  openings,  broader  and  better  than  his  ances- 
tors, and  took  advantage  of  them.  He  did  not  have  the  advantage 
nor  the  embarrassment  of  a  great  name,  but  through  his  own  effort, 
his  own  perseverance,  his  own  study  and  energy,  he  made  one  for 
himself. 

In  an  unpretentious  frame  building  in  the  small  town  of  Niles, 
Ohio,  William  McKinley  was  born.  There  was  no  silver  spoon  in  his 
mouth,  though  his  parents  were  comfortably  situated.     He  was  the 


THE  PEOPLE'S  PRESIDENT 


seventh  child,  out  of  a  family  of  nine  children.  William  McKinley 
had  a  good  mother.  Her  gentle  guidance  and  her  religious  instruc- 
tion were  much  to  him.  She,  like  most  mothers  of  large  famiHes, 
was  able  to  do  more  for  her  children  because  they  were  numerous 
than  had  she  but  one  or  two.  There  was  no  danger  of  William 
being  spoiled,  and  the  association  with  brothers  and  sisters  naturally 
produced  a  thoughtfulness  for  others  and  a  regard  for  others'  opinions, 
and  at  the  same  time  helped 
develop  an  ability  to  care  for 
himself.  Mrs.  McKinley  trained 
her  son  to  patriotic  views,  and 
willingly  consented  to  his  enter- 
ing the  army  to  help  put  down 
the  rebellion  before  he  was  eight- 
een years  of  age.  She  had 
pride  in  his  abihties,  and  un- 
doubtedly greatly  rejoiced  when 
his  name  was  suggested  for  the 
greatest  and  most  exalted  office 
in  America. 

The  family  moved  from 
Niles  to  Poland  when  William 
was  still  young.  The  mother 
desired  her  children  to  have  edu- 
cational advantages,  and  the 
academy  in  Poland  had  a  wide 
reputation  for  the  abilities  of 
its  teachers.  There  William's 
sister,  Annie,  became  a  teachei 
and  William  a  scholar.  The 
young  boy  made  friends  always 

by  his  quiet  dignity  and  serious  habits — a  studious,  manly  boy,  who 
could  play  as  hard  as  he  studied.  Everybody  liked  him,  and,  of 
course,  bright  and  thorough  in  his  work  as  he  was,  there  were  proph- 
ecies that  he  would  make  a  great  man.  In  the  days  of  McKinley's 
youth  men  and  boys  often  did  chores  to  help  the  family  along,  and 
that  was  what   McKinley  himself  did.     He  was  also  a  clerk  in  the 


HON.    LYMAN  J.    GAGE, 

Secretary  of  the  Treasury. 


WILLIAM  McI^INLEY 

Poland  postoffice  when  he  entered  the  war.  Two  months  after  the 
surrender  of  Fort  Sumter,  in  1861,  a  town  meeting  was  held  at  the 
tavern  in  Poland.  In  a  small  town  the  hotel  is  sometimes  used  for 
a  meeting-place,  just  as  a  store  is,  in  a  village.  Here  the  citizens 
had  assembled  to  discuss  the  secession  of  States.  A  speaker  in  a 
fiery  talk  asked  who  would  be  first  to  defend  the  flag.  The  boys  of 
Poland  came  forward,  one  by  one,  and  among  them  was  McKinley, 
then  a  slight,  pale-faced,  studious-looking  young  man.  Two  years 
before  he  had  joined  the  Methodist  Church,  and  was  at  this  time  a 
member  of  the  Bible-class,  constantly  seeking  information.  Before 
the  war,  at  seventeen,  he  had  gone  to  Allegheny  College,  but  illness 
called  him  home.  He  did  not  return,  but  began  teaching  school. 
Some  of  his  scholars  were  older  than  himself. 

At  the  town  meeting  above  referred  to,  McKinley  enlisted  in 
Company  E  of  the  Twenty-third  Ohio  Volunteers,  a  regiment  that 
produced  men  like  Stanley  Matthews,  afterward  Senator  and  Asso- 
ciate Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court;  President  Hayes,  and  W.  S. 
Rosecrans.  The  latter  was  first  colonel.  In  this  regiment  McKinley 
served  fourteen  months  as  a  private.  Speaking  of  his  conduct  with 
the  regiment.  General  Hayes  afterward  said:  "He  had  unusual 
character  for  the  mere  business  of  war.  Young  as  he  was,  we  soon 
found  that  in  business,  and  in  executive  ability,  young  McKinley  was  a 
man  of  unusual  and  unsurpassed  capacity,  especially  for  a  boy  of  his 
age.  When  battles  were  fought  or  service  was  to  be  performed,  he 
always  took  his  place.  The  night  was  never  too  dark ;  the  weather 
was  never  too  cold;  there  was  no  sleet  or  storm,  or  hail  or  snow,  or 
rain  that  was  in  the  way  of  his  prompt  and  efficient  performance  of 
every  duty." 

That  is  a  great  tribute  from  a  great  man.  General  Hayes  became 
commander  of  the  regiment,  McKinley  went  on  his  staff,  and  he  served 
so  well  in  that  capacity  for  two  years  that  Hayes  knew  him  ' '  like  a 
book  and  loved  him  like  a  brother. "  That  friendship  continued  to  the 
last.  At  the  funeral  of  ex-President  Hayes,  in  1892,  Governor 
McKinley  was  present  with  his  staff  and  cried  like  a  child  when  he 
looked  at  the  body  of  his  old  commander  and  friend. 

At  the  battle  of  Antietam,  probably  the  bloodiest  battle  of  the 
war,  McKinley  was  commissary  sergeant  in  the  Twenty-third  Ohio. 


THE  PEOPLE'S  PRESIDENT 


General  Hayes  says  of  his  services  then:  "That  battle  began  at  day- 
light. Before  daylight  men  were  in  the  ranks  and  preparing  for  it. 
Without  breakfast,  without  coffee,  they  went  into  the  fight,  and  it 
continued  until  after  the  sun  had  set.  Early  in  the  afternoon  they 
were  famished  and  thirsty,  and  to  some  extent  broken  in  spirit.  The 
commissary  department  of  that  brigade  was  under  Sergeant  McKin- 
ley's  administration  and  personal  supervision.  From  his  hands 
every  man  in  the  regiment  was 
served  with  hot  coffee  and  warm 
meats — a  thing  that  had  never 
occurred  under  similar  circum- 
stances in  any  other  army  in  the 
world.  He  passed  under  fire 
and  delivered  with  his  own  hands 
these  things  so  essential  to  the 
men  for  whom  he  was  laboring. 
I  told  Governor  Todd,  of  Ohio, 
this  incident.  With  the  empha- 
sis that  distinguished  him,  he 
said  :  '  Let  McKinley  be  pro- 
moted from  sergeant  to  lieuten- 
ant. 

Speaking  of  his  war  service. 
Major  McKinley  once  said:  "I 
always  look  back  with  pleasure 
upon  those  fourteen  months  I 
served  in  the  ranks.  They 
taught  me  a  great  deal.  I  was 
but  a  schoolboy  when  I  went 
into  the  army,  and  that  first  year 
was  a  formative  period  in  my 
life.  It  was  there  that  I  learned  much  of  men  and  of  affairs.  I 
have  always  been  glad  that  I  entered  the  service  as  a  private  and 
served  in  that  capacity." 

At  the  battle  of  Kernstown,  McKinley  was  on  General  Hayes' 
staff.  When  the  battle  began  one  of  the  regiments  was  not  in  posi- 
tion, and  Lieutenant  McKinley  was  ordered  to  bring  it  in.     The  road 


HON.   JOHN    D.    LONG, 

Secretary   of  the   Navy. 


WILLIAM   McKINLEY 

to  where  the  regiment  was  located  was  through  open  fields  and  right 
in  the  enemy's  line  of  fire.  Shells  were  bursting  on  his  right  and 
left,  but  the  boy  soldier  rode  on.  He  reached  the  regiment,  gave 
them  the  orders,  and  at  his  suggestion  they  fired  on  the  enemy  and 
slowly  withdrew  to  take  the  position  where  they  were  assigned.  It 
was  a  gallant  act  of  the  boy  soldier,  and  so  dangerous  that  General 
Hayes  hardly  expected  him  to  come  back  alive. 

At  the  battle  of  Opequan,  where  he  was  still  on  General  Hayes' 
staff,  he  not  only  distinguished  himself  for  gallantry,  and  good  judg- 
ment, but  for  military  skill.  He  had  been  ordered  to  bring  General 
Duval's  troops  to  join  the  first  division,  which  were  already  going 
into  battle.  There  was  a  question  as  to  the  route  to  take.  The 
young  officer  knew  it  intuitively,  and  acting  on  his  own  responsibility, 
directed  the  way  and  brought  the  troops  up  in  good  style,  taking 
great  chances  but  succeeding  nevertheless.  Other  equally  coura- 
geous and  dangerous  things  the  Ohio  officer  undertook. 

Later  on  he  served  with  General  Crook  as  a  staff  officer,  and  was 
finally  assigned  to  duty  with  General  Hancock.  He  entered  the  war 
at  seventeen  a  private,  among  several  hundred  thousand  other  boys, 
and  left  it  a  major  in  the  United  States  Volunteers  by  brevet.  He 
earned  every  promotion  by  his  own  skill.  Think  of  it,  a  major  at 
twenty-one!  Until  his  death  he  had  his  brevet  commission.  It  was 
given  him  in  1864,  and  reads:  "For  gallant  and  meritorious  services 
at  the  battle  of  Opequan,  Cedar  Creek,  and  Fisher's  Hill."  Signed, 
A.  Lincoln.  It  is  a  testimonial  of  bravery,  of  patriotism,  and  of  man- 
liness, and  Major  McKinley  was  proud  of  it.  Who  blames  him? 
There  are  other  records  more  brilliant;  but  none  displayed  more 
courage,  and  few  had  equal  responsibilities  at  his  age.  His  horse 
was  shot  from  under  him  at  Berryville.  He  appreciated  the  hard- 
ships of  the  private  soldier's  life,  for  he  endured  them  himself.  He 
knew  the  worries  of  the  officer,  for  these  also  he  experienced.  He 
understood  the  duties  of  a  staff  officer,  for  he  was  one.  There  is 
everything  in  his  record  that  is  creditable,  nothing  that  is  discredit- 
able.    He  was  a  typical  American  citizen  soldier. 

After  the  surrender  of  Appomattox,  and  after  he  was  mustered 
out,  Major  McKinley  was  offered  a  commission  in  the  regular  army. 
It  was  a  temptation  hard  to  resist,  for  army  life  had  given  him  a  love 


THE   PEOPLE'S   PRESIDENT 

for  military  service  that  was  hard  to  overcome.  What  might  have 
been  his  career  had  he  remained  in  the  army  no  one  can  tell.  But 
he  acted  on  the  advice  of  his  father,  and  entered  civil  life.  He 
studied  law  in  Mahoning  county,  under  Judge  Glidden,  for  a  year  and 
a  half,  and  his  family  made  sacrifices  to  enable  him  to  do  so.  Their 
unselfishness  also  enabled  him  to  go  to  the  Albany  Law  School, 
which  has  developed  many  men  of  brains  and  ability.  In  1867,  at 
the  age  of  twenty-four,  he  was  admitted  to  the  bar  and  chose 
Canton,  then  a  small  town  of  about  six  thousand  people,  for  his 
home.  Canton  was  not  important  then,  though  great  manufactories 
were  to  develop  there,  and  the  Mahoning  Valley  was  to  become  a 
great  hive  of  industry. 

McKinley  had  a  natural  aptitude  for  politics,  and  his  life  as  an 
attorney  tended  to  increase  it.  The  Republicans  wanted  a  candi- 
date for  Prosecuting  Attorney,  and  gave  it  to  McKinley,  a  new  man, 
as  a  mark  of  recognition.  He  was  elected  Prosecuting  Attorney, 
much  to  the  surprise  of  his  opponents.  There  he  displayed  his 
customary  ability,  and  was  renominated,  only  to  be  defeated,  but  the 
opponent  who  overcame  him  won  by  forty-five  votes  only.  The 
campaigns  for  Prosecuting  Attorney  marked  the  beginning  of 
McKinley's  political  career.  While  practicing  law  he  took  an  active 
part  in  politics,  but  did  not  run  for  office  until  1876.  He  stumped 
the  district,  and  often  spoke  with  pleasure  of  his  experience  as  a 
young  stump  speaker.  Old  inhabitants  of  the  district  tell  of  the 
great  demand  there  was  for  the  young  speaker,  of  his  eloquence  and 
control  of  the  subject  he  handled. 

After  his  first  term  as  Prosecuting  Attorney,  Major  McKinley 
secured  a  large  law  practice.  He  prepared  every  case  thoroughly 
and  knew  every  detail;  in  fact,  when  he  went  into  a  trial,  he  knew 
all  there  was  to  be  known  of  the  case  he  had  in  hand.  He  was  per- 
suasive as  an  advocate,  for  he  was  eloquent.  This  natural  ability, 
combined  with  his  thorough  understanding  of  the  matter  in  hand, 
gave  him  many  victories  and  established  his  reputation  as  a  lawyer. 
In  1871  he  was  married  to  Miss  Ida  Saxton,  whose  father  was  the 
editor  of  the  Canton  Repository  and  a  banker  as  well.  Miss  Saxton 
was  thoroughly  educated  and  had  been  abroad,  which  in  those  days 
was  an  unusual  advantage  for  a  young  woman  living  six  hundred 


'  WILLIAM   McKINLEY 

miles  from  the  sea.  Her  father  did  not  like  the  idea  of  her  marry- 
ing but  finally  consented  saying  that  Major  McKinley  was  the  only 
man  that  he  was  willing  she  should  marry.  Two  girls  blessed  this 
union.  One  died  when  still  a  baby,  and  the  other  after  it  had 
reached  four  years  and  had  become  the  joy  of  the  house.  Mrs.  Mc- 
Kinley had  been  worn  by  the  death  of  her  father,  and  this  additional 
affliction  aided  in  breaking  her  health.  She  liked  to  see  her  friends 
and  loved  children,  who  know  they  are  always  welcome  at  her  house. 
Mrs.  McKinley  was  ever  an  adept  with  the  needle,  and  knitting  as 
well.  Many  clothes  and  warm  mitts  and  jackets  she  has  made  for 
friends  and  for  the  poor.  In  the  gubernatorial  campaign  of  1893, 
when  the  Governor  spoke  more  than  three  hundred  times  in  eighty 
out  of  the  eighty-eight  counties  of  the  State,  he  was  never  too  weary 
after  the  last  meeting  on  Saturday  to  take  a  train  to  the  place  where 
Mrs.  McKinley  happened  to  be,  in  order  that  he  might  spend  Sunday 
with  her.  Though  an  invalid  she  was  cheerful,  never  faltering  in 
her  belief  in  her  husband. 

In  the  centennial  year  McKinley  was  brought  forward  as  a  candi- 
date for  the  Republican  congressional  nomination.  There  were  other 
candidates,  including  three  from  Stark  County.  To  the  surprise  of 
his  opponents  William  McKinley  carried  all  the  townships  but  one, 
and  that  was  so  small  that  it  had  but  one  delegate.  As  a  result,  he 
was  nominated  with  a  cheer  on  the  first  ballot.  Major  McKinley 
represented  his  district  for  fifteen  years.  He  had  been  in  the  House 
but  one  term,  when  his  county  was  placed  in  a  district  that  had  a 
Democratic  majority  of  1,800.  Major  McKinley  stumped  the  dis- 
trict from  one  end  to  the  other,  and  carried  it  by  1,300  plurality — 
truly  a  great  victory.  In  1880  he  was  again  elected.  Thus  by  the 
time  he  was  thirty-nine  he  had  represented  his  district  in  Congress 
three  times.  Unseated  toward  the  end  of  the  Forty-eighth  Congress, 
McKinley  was  re-elected  in  1884,  by  a  great  majority,  and  remained 
in  Congress  as  a  member  of  the  Forty-ninth,  Fiftieth  and  Fifty-first 
Congresses.  Slowly  but  surely  he  had  grown  in  influence.  He  had 
been  modest  in  his  first  years  of  congressional  life.  A  young  man, 
full  of  enthusiasm  and  study,  and  inheriting  an  interest  in  the  indus- 
tries of  the  country,  a  natural  researcher,  he  was  from  the  beginning 
a  protectionist.     The  district  he  represented  was  a  manufacturing 


THE   PEOPLE'S   PRESIDENT 

one.  He  studied  its  needs,  saw  where  protection  was  a  benefit,  and 
proposed  to  stand  by  that  cause.  That  he  did  so  ably,  even  his 
enemies  admit.  He  knew  the  industries  of  the  country  thoroughly, 
was  informed  of  business  conditions  in  every  section — a  student  of 
economics,  a  patient  bidder  for  information,  a  persistent  questioner 
regarding  conditions  everywhere. 

It  was  in  his  second  term  in  Congress  that  William  McKinley 
made  a  reputation  as  a  tariff  debater.  He  secured  recognition  in 
April  of  1878,  and  addressed  the  House  at  length.  His  speech  is 
very  interesting  reading  now,  and  surprises  even  those  who  are 
informed  of  his  ability,  that  he  should  then,  so  young,  and  compara- 
tively inexperienced  in  congressional  work,  have  delivered  such  an 
admirable  plea  for  protection,  such  an  appeal  to  the  House  not  to 
strike  down  the  industries  of  his  district — of  the  country.  It  was 
really  a  wonderful  speech,  and  it  made  the  young  congressman  a 
reputation  that  was  national.  It  marked  him  as  the  successor  of 
James  A.  Garfield  on  the  Ways  and  Means  Committee,  for  Garfield 
was  then  a  candidate  for  the  Senate,  to  which,  it  will  be  remembered, 
he  was  elected  before  the  Convention  of  1880  made  him  a  Presi- 
dential candidate. 

McKinley's  Washington  life  was  not  a  very  social  one.  A  man 
of  his  industry  and  studious  habits  had  little  time  for  society.  But  the 
McKinleys  had  friends.  They  were  not  social  leaders,  though  every 
one  who  had  the  pleasure  of  knowing  them  appreciated  their  refine- 
ment. They  were  sought  out  by  many,  but  preferred  a  life  of  compara- 
tive seclusion,  brightened  by  the  intimate  friends  who  clung  around 
them.  In  1882,  as  a  member  of  the  Ways  and  Means  Committee, 
he  urged  that  the  Tariff  Commission  be  appointed,  and  made  an  able 
speech  in  its  support.  The  results  of  that  Commission  are  known. 
McKinley  helped  frame  the  tariff  bill  of  1883,  which  was  in  force  for 
seven  years.  Up  to  1884  Major  McKinley  had  been  known  chiefly 
for  his  connection  with  Congress.  He  had  by  that  time  a  national 
reputation,  and  was  regarded  as  a  rising  man.  He  had  not,  how- 
ever, entered  into  national  politics,  nor  taken  any  considerable  part 
in  Ohio  affairs.  He  had  simply  represented  his  district  in  Congress, 
but  Ohio  was  beginning  to  claim  him  as  one  of  her  great  men. 

In  1888  McKinley  was  one  of  the  delegates  to  the  Presidential 


l  WILLIAM  McKINLEY 

convention  held  in  Chicago.  Ohio's  choice  for  President  then  was 
John  Sherman,  and  the  delegation  had  been  instructed  to  that  effect. 
There  was  a  number  of  candidates  and  the  contest  was  prolonged. 
McKinley  was  a  power  in  the  convention  and  won  many  friends  by 
his  earnest  and  forceful  arguments  in  behalf  of  Sherman.  On  the 
sixth  ballot  some  one  voted  for  him.  Applause  followed,  and  the 
next  State  gave  him  seventeen  votes.  The  cheers  were  deafening.  It 
was  a  trying  moment.  A  word  from  him  and  the  highest  office  of  the 
world  was  his.  But  his  loyalty  to  his  State,  his  friend  John  Sherman, 
and  his  conscience,  never  wavered.  He  stepped  on  a  chair,  with  his 
frock  coat  buttoned  tightly  around  him  and  his  eyes  flashing  forth  the 
fire  so  characteristic  of  them  when  in  earnest.  There  was  a  stern 
look  in  his  face.  The  convention  was  silent.  Delegates  and  spec- 
tators leaned  forward  to  catch  what  he  was  about  to  say.  There  was 
a  feeling  that  he  would  relinquish  the  Presidential  prize,  would  sacri- 
fice ambition  to  remain  faithful  to  a  trust.  As  he  spoke  his  voice 
rang  through  the  great  auditorium.  There  was  a  defiant  tone  to  it. 
It  was  commanding.      It  was  irresistible.     He  said: 

"Mr.  President  and  Gentlemen  of  the  Convention:  I  am  here 
as  one  of  the  chosen  representatives  of  my  State.  I  am  here 
by  resolution  of  the  Republican  State  Convention,  commandmg  me 
to  cast  my  vote  for  John  Sherman  for  President,  and  to  use  every 
worthy  endeavor  or  to  secure  his  nomination.  I  accepted  the  trust, 
because  my  heart  and  judgment  were  in  accord  with  the  letter  and 
spirit  and  purpose  of  that  resolution.  It  has  pleased  certain  dele- 
gates to  cast  their  vote  for  me  for  President.  I  am  not  insensible  to 
the  honor  they  would  do  me,  but  in  the  presence  of  the  duty  resting 
upon  me  I  cannot  remain  silent  with  honor.  I  cannot  consistently 
with  the  wish  of  the  State  whose  credentials  I  bear,  and  which  has 
trusted  me;  I  cannot  consistently  with  my  own  views  of  personal 
integrity,  consent,  or  seem  to  consent,  to  permit  my  name  to  be  used 
as  a  candidate  before  this  convention.  I  would  not  respect  myself  if 
I  could  find  it  in  my  heart  to  do  or  to  permit  to  be  done  that  which 
could  even  be  ground  for  any  one  to  suspect  that  I  wavered  in  my 
lo3^alty  to  Ohio,  or  my  devotion  to  the  chief  of  her  choice  and  the 
chief  of  mine.  I  do  not  request — I  demand  that  no  delegate  who 
would  not  cast  reflection  upon  me  shall  cast  a  ballot  for  me."     That 


THE   PEOPLE'S   PRESIDENT 

settled  it.  McKinley  had  won.  He  received  no  more  votes  and 
Harrison  was  named  on  the  seventh  ballot. 

Defeated  for  Congress  in  1890  he  was  elected  Governor  of  Ohio 
in  1891,  and  re-elected  in  1893.  His  administration  was  admirable  in 
every  way.  In  1896  he  received  the  Republican  nomination  for  the 
Presidency,  to  which  he  was  elected. 

Throughout  the  summer  he  remained  at  his  home  in  Canton, 
where  he  received  delegations  from  all  parts  of  the  country.  His 
administration  as  executive  of  the  country  commanded  the  respect 
and  approval  of  the  entire  country.  Indeed,  with  a  less  wise,  less 
patriotic  man  at  the  helm,  it  is  hard  to  tell  where  we  would  have 
drifted  in  our  war  with  Spain.  When  the  Maine  was  sunk  in  the 
harbor  of  Havana  in  February,  1898,  the  whole  country  cried  for 
vengeance.  But  the  president  said:  "Let  us  wait  till  we  know  the 
facts,"  and  almost  single-handed  he  held  back  the  war  until  the  facts 
were  known  and  Congress  had  declared  war.  When  war  came,  party 
lines  were  wiped  out.  The  North  and  South  made  common  cause 
for  the  old  flag,  and  the  "war  for  humanity." 

The  war  forced  new  duties  and  responsibilities  upon  Mr.  McKin- 
ley as  chief  executive.  By  the  treaty  with  Spain  the  Philippines  and 
Porto  Rico  became  ours,  introducing  serious  questions  as  to  their 
government.  These  were  met  with  the  tact  and  judgment  that 
characterized  his  administrative  acts.  During  this  administration 
business  revived,  industries  flourished  and  prosperity  reigned.  Under 
such  circumstances  it  was  natural  that  Mr.  McKinley  should  be  re- 
nominated for  the  presidency  in  the  campaign  of  1900. 

During  the  early  part  of  his  second  term  he  crossed  the  conti- 
nent from  our  ocean  boundary  on  the  east  to  the  one  on  the  west, 
going  from  Washington  through  the  Southern  cities  to  San  Francisco, 
his  movement  a  triumphal  procession  that  will  be  memorable  for  the 
reciprocity  of  good  wishes  and  the  happiness  of  better  acquaintance. 

The  third  of  our  Presidents  ambushed  for  martyrdom,  went  with 
Mrs.  McKinley  to  face  Fate  under  the  gilded  dome  of  the  Pan-Ameri- 
can Exposition  held  at  Buffalo  in  1901.  Here  the  drama  of  assassi- 
nation had  been  rehearsed  by  one  Leon  Czolgosz.  On  Friday  after- 
noon he  went  to  the  Temple  of  Music  and  was  one  of  the  first  of  the 
throng  to  enter.     He  crowded  well  foward,  as  close  to  the  stage  as 


WILLIAM   McKINLEY 

possible.  He  was  there  when  the  President  entered  through  the  side 
door.  He  was  one  of  the  first  to  hurry  forward  when  the  President 
took  his  position  and  prepared  to  shake  hands  with  the  people. 

Czolgosz  had  his  revolver  gripped  in  his  right  hand,  and  about 
both  the  hand  and  the  revolver  was  wrapped  a  handkerchief.  He 
held  the  weapon  to  his  breast,  so  that  any  one  who  noticed  him  might 
suppose  that  the  hand  was  injured.  He  did  not  look  into  the  Presi- 
dent's face,  extended  his  left  hand,  pressed  the  revolver  against  the 
President's  breast  with  his  right  hand  and  fired.  The  President  sank 
back.  He  was  suffering  intense  pain,  but  true  to  his  noble  nature  his 
first  thought  was  of  others — one  other  in  particular,  his  wife. 

He  looked  up  and  gasped:  "  Cortelyou."  The  President's  secre- 
tary bent  over  him.  "Cortelyou,"  said  the  President,  "my  wife,  be 
careful  about  her.     Don't  let  her  know." 

His  next  thought  was  of  the  cruel  assassin  who  had  struck  him 
down.  "Let  no  one  hurt  him,"  he  gasped,  and  sank  back  in  his 
chair,  while  the  guards  carried  Czolgosz  out  of  his  sight. 

The  world  knows  William  McKinley  best  as  a  public  man,  yet 
there  was  a  warmth  of  feeling,  a  devotion  to  friends,  and  a  breadth 
of  character  that  made  him  admired  and  loved. 

In  the  campaign  of  1896  an  errand  boy  on  the  New  York  World 
was  sent  to  interview  Mr.  McKinley.  The  boy's  report  is  as  follows: 
'T  have  been  down  to  Ohio  to  see  Mr.  McKinley.  I  wanted  to  see 
him  bad,  so  I  called  on  him  at  Canton,  Ohio,  the  town  he  lives  in. 
When  a  man  gets  big  like  him  he  ought  to  be  able  to  tell  boys  how 
to  become  great,  too,  so  I  thought  I  would  ask  of  him  some  advice  on 
how  a  young  boy  can  start  in  life. 

"  It  isn't  easy  to  ask  Major  McKinley  things  for  the  newspapers; 
I  knew  that  before  I  started,  so  I  found  Mr.  Boyle,  his  private  secre- 
tary, and  told  him  I  was  the  boy  reporter  for  the  Sunday  World,  and 
all  the  boys  wanted  to  hear  about  Mr.  McKinley,  and  woultl  he 
please  fix  it  so  I  could  see  him.  I  told  him  that  I  didn't  want  to  talk 
politics,  and  that  I  wanted  to  ask  Mr.  McKinley  how  I  or  other  boys 
could  get  to  be  as  famous  as  he  was.  Mr.  Boyle  laughed,  and  said  I 
might  call  around  in  the  morning.  When  morning  came  I  went  up  to 
the  door  and  asked  to  see  Mr.  McKinley.  A  young  man  came 
to   the   door.     'Come   right    in,'  says   he.     I  walked   in,  and   there 


THE  PEOPLE'S  PRESIDENT  ^ 

was  a  big  man  sitting  in  the  corner.      I  knew  him  right  off  as  soon  as 
I  seen  him.     It  was  Major  McKinley. 

* '  I  seen  he  had  a  round  head  with  not  much  hair  on  the  top,  and 
I  knew  it  was  him.  He  wore  eye-glasses  and  a  black  coat  and  had 
awful  big  eyebrows,  and  he  didn't  look  like  as  if  he  was  in  a  great  hurry, 
and  I  hoped  he'd  talk  to  me  a  good  deal.  I  liked  him  right  off,  and 
then  I  looked  at  the  room.  It  was  his  library  and  he  uses  it  as  his 
office.  It  was  very  large  with  plenty  of  book  shelves.  Pictures  were 
hanging  on  the  walls,  also  a  large,  beautiful  picture  of  his  wife,  Mrs. 
McKinley,  and  himself.  Just  then  Mr.  Boyle  came  down  stairs  and 
stepped  over  to  the  Major,  and  said  there  was  a  boy  there  to  see 
him.  Mr.  McKinley  got  right  up  from  his  chair  and  stared  at  me 
with  a  very  pleasant  smile  on  his  face.  '  This  is  Harry  Wilson, '  said 
Mr.  Boyle,  'who  has  come  from  New  York  to  see  you.'  '  I'm  pleased 
to  see  you, '  said  Mr.  McKinley,  and  he  gave  me  his  hand  to  shake, 
and  I  liked  him  more  than  ever,  because  he  acted  as  if  he  was  real 
pleased  to  see  me. 

"  'Sit  down, '  said  he,  and  he  pointed  to  a  rocking-chair,  and 
then  he  sat  down  in  front  of  me. 

"  'Mr.  McKinley,'  I  said,  '  I  come  to  ask  you  if  you  would  give 
me  some  advice  as  to  how  a  young  boy  can  start  in  life  and  become 
a  great  man;  I  thought  you  could  tell  me.'  He  sat  still  for  a  mo- 
ment holding  his  eye-glasses  with  his  right  hand,  and  pushing  the  black 
bead  on  the  cord  with  his  other  hand.  He  thought  a  long  time,  and 
then  talked  very  slowly,  and  his  voice  was  deep.  '  Well,  he  said, 
'  first  a  boy  must  be  a  good  boy,  honest,  always  do  what  is  right,  pay 
attention  to  what  he  is  doing,  and  be  a  student;  he  must  go  to 
school  all  he  can,  learn  all  his  lessons,  and  he  mustn't  be  afraid  to 
study. '  '  Mr.  McKinley, '  I  said,  '  will  you  please  tell  me,  do  you 
think  a  boy  has  as  much  chance  to  study  and  make  a  great  man  out 
of  himself  in  a  small  place  like  this  as  the  boys  in  great  cities  like 
New  York  have?  '  That  made  him  smile,  but  he  said  right  off,  '  A 
boy  can  make  anything  of  himself  that  he  pleases,  and  he  has  just 
as  much  chance  to  do  it  in  the  country  as  in  the  city.'  He  was 
beginning  to  get  warmed  up  and  was  beginning  to  talk  fast.  He 
went  on:  'It  don't  make  so  much  difference  where  it  is  or  how  great 
the  part  he  plays,  but  it's  the  way  he  plays  it.     The  other  night  I 


WILLIAM  McKINLEY 

saw  a  play  at  the  theater  called  "The  Rivals."  Mr.  Jefferson,  and 
Mr.  Drew  and  Mrs.  Drew,  and  Mrs.  Tabor,  and  Mr.  Crane  and 
Goodwin,  the  Holland  brothers,  and  Francis  Wilson,  played  the 
parts ;  every  one  of  them  was  great  and  used  to  be  stars,  but  they 
were  content  to  take  some  parts  that  were  very  small  in  "  Tlic 
Rivals,"  but  they  played  them  just  as  well  as  if  they  had  been  big. 
That  is  the  way  with  boys  and  men;  it  isn't  so  much  to  be  great  as 
to  do  whatever  you  have  to  do  well ;    that  is  being  great. ' 

"Mr.  McKinley  is  very  fond  of  his  mother,  who  is  eighty- 
seven  years  old,  and  lives  near  him,  so  I  said,  *  Can  a  boy  neglect 
his  mother  and  get  along  and  be  great,  Mr.  McKinley?'  He 
looked  very  grave  and  sad,  and  then  said:  'Harry,  a  boy  should 
always  be  good  to  his  mother. ' 

' '  Then  I  said,  '  I  have  done  everything  in  the  world  I  can  do 
for  my  mother,'  and  then  he  said:  'That's  right,  Harry;  do  all  you 
can  at  all  times.'  Then  I  stopped  a  moment  and  said:  'Mr. 
McKinley,  will  you  tell  me  when  a  boy  ought  to  study  politics?' 
He  stopped  a  moment,  and  said  to  me:  '  Harry,  first,  a  boy  should 
study  the  history  of  his  country,  and  learn  all  the  political  history 
of  the  country.  He  should  learn  what  the  leaders  have  done  for 
their  country,  so  that  when  the  time  comes  for  him  to  vote  he  will  be 
able  to  do  so  intelligently.' 

"I  then  said:  'Would  you  tell  me  how  you  earned  your  first 
dollar?'  He  sank  back  in  his  chair  and  looked  as  if  that  wasn't  what 
he  expected  me  to  ask  him;  then  he  put  up  his  hand  to  the  side 
of  his  head,  as  if  to  recall  the  years  which  had  passed  by,  and  then 
with  a  smile  said:  'Really,  I  can't  recall  the  first  dollar  that  I 
earned. '  When  I  was  a  boy  money  was  very  scarce,  and  you  had  to 
work  hard  for  what  little  money  you  got.  But  I  can't  remember  the 
first  dollar.     You  have  to  ask  me  something  easy. ' 

"Then  I  knew  my  talk  was  over  with  him.  I  felt  very  sorry  to 
say  good-bye,  but  I  said:  'Mr.  McKinley,  I  want  to  thank  you,  for 
it  was  very  good  in  you  to  stop  to  talk  to  a  boy,  and  I  am  very 
grateful. '  '  And  I  am  very  glad  that  you  came  to  see  me, '  says  he. 
'  I'm  always  glad  to  talk  with  boys.  I  like  them,  and  like  to  be  with 
them.  What  is  there  in  all  the  world  nicer  than  a  boy,  except  a 
sweet  young  girl?' " 


F-J^'RT    II. 


DANIEL  WEBSTER 

THE  INTERPRETER  OF  THE  CONSTITUTION 

The  boundless  prairies  learned  his  name, 
His  words  the  mountain  echoes  knew; 

The  northern  breezes  swept  his  fame 
From  icy  lakes  to  warm  bayou. 

— Oliver  Wendell  Holmes. 


DANIEL   WEBSTER. 


'^N  BOYHOOD,  Daniel  Web- 
I  ster  was  not  physically 
strong,  nor  did  he  show 
signs  of  that  great  power  which 
in  after  years  made  him  so  justly 
famous.  He  grew  too  fast  to  ma- 
ture mentally,  and  often  lagged 
behind  other  boys  of  his  age.  One 
day  over-hearing  a  conversation 
about  his  stupidity,  he  was 
aroused,  and  the  latent  talent  be- 
gan to  show  its  powers.  His 
early  education  consisted  only  of 
what  his  mother  taught  him  at 
home  and  that  which  he  obtained 
in  the  scanty  winter  terms  of  the 
country  school.  It  is  easy  to  see 
that  a  boy  of  his  circumstances 
and  temperament  would  be  bash- 
ful He  could  not  even  speak  a 
piece  before  his   country    school. 


With  this  inadequate  preparation  he  entered  Dartmouth  College,  from 
which  he  graduated  in  1801  at  the  age  of  19.    He  then  studied  law  in  Boston 

113 


DANIEL    WEBSTER 

and  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1805  from  the  office  of  Christopher  Gore. 
Affection  for  his  people  at  home  led  him  to  settle  in  Boscawen,  N.  H.,  close 
by  Salisbury,  the  town  in  which  he  was  born.  Here  he  remained  until  the 
death  of  his  father,  when  he  moved  to  Portsmouth,  the  largest  town  in  his 
native  state.  Here  he  soon  achieved  fame,  and  was  sent  to  Congress  at  the 
early  age  of  31  years.  His  knowledge  of  international  law  secured  him  an 
immediate  place  on  the  Foreign  Affairs  Committee,  a  position  of  no  small 
honor  at  this  time,  as  the  United  States  was  then  at  war  with  Great  Britain. 
With  eminent  sagacity  and  justice,  Webster  thought  that  attacks  on  Canada 
should  cease;  that  the  conflict  should  be  confined  to  the  sea,  not  on  land. 
He  said:  "If  the  war  must  continue,  go  to  the  ocean.  If  you  are  seriously 
contending  for  maritime  rights,  go  to  the  theater,  where  alone  those  rights 
can  be  defended.  Thither  every  indication  of  your  fortune  points  you. 
There  the  united  wishes  and  exertions  of  the  nation  will  go  with  you.  Even 
our  party  divisions,  acrimonious  as  they  are,  cease  at  the  water's  edge." 

Webster  was  a  Federalist  in  his  views.  The  Federalists  were  in  the 
minority,  hence  his  scope  in  Congress  was  limited.  He  saw  a  broader  field  in 
the  practice  of  law,  so  withdrew  from  political  life,  going  to  Boston,  where 
within  three  years  he  made  a  national  reputation,  and  began  to  realize  an 
income  of  $20,000  per  year.  His  prestige  was  gained  by  a  plea  for  his  old 
alma  mater — Dartmouth  College.  The  State  Legislature  had  altered  the 
original  charter  and  reorganized  the  corporation.  In  this  the  courts  sus- 
tained the  legislature.  In  the  appeal  to  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States,  Webster  took  the  stand  that  the  charter  of  1769  was  a  contract;  the 
acts  in  question  impaired  the  contract;  therefore,  they  were  void  because 
they  were  unconstitutional.  The  Supreme  Court  sustained  Mr.  Webster's 
plea.  So  profound  an  impression  did  the  decision  make  that  no  judge  since 
that  time  has  lost  sight  of  the  decision  or  forgotten  the  man  who  made  the 
plea. 

Daniel  Webster  was  versatile  as  well  as  gifted.  In  the  great  criminal 
case  of  Goodridge  and  Knapp  we  have  his  masterly  oration  on  "con- 
science," which  has  been  ever  since,  not  only  the  American  boy's  favorite 
"piece  to  speak,"  but  the  American  girl's  proud  reminder  that  greatness  must 
consist  of  goodness  as  well  as  power. 

In  1820  Webster  was  chosen  to  deliver  the  address  on  the  200th  anni- 
versary of  the  landing  of  the  Pilgrim  Fathers.  If  the  Dartmouth  College  plea 
made  him  famous  as  a  constitutional  lawyer,  the  Plymouth  address  estab- 
lished him  as  the  national  orator. 

In  1823  he  began  anew  his  political  career,  being  sent  as  a  representative 
«rom  Massachusetts  to  Congress.    He  remained  there  till  1827,  when  he  was 


THE    INTERPRETER  OF  THE  CONSTITUTION, 


sent  to  the  Senate,  where  he  remained  till  the  day  of  his  death,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  the  time  he  served  in  Tyler's  cabinet. 

In  January,  1830,  he  achieved  the  crowning  glory  of  his  political  life. 
The  occasion  was  a  debate  on  public  lands,  known  as  "Foote's  Resolution." 
In  this  debate  Mr.  Haynes  of  South  Carolina  attacked  New  England  for  pur- 
suing a  selfish  policy  with  reference  to  Western  lands.  Webster  pushed 
Haynes  with  questions,  till  Haynes  made  a  declaration  of  "Nullification," 
which  was  then  new  and  contained  the  germ  of  secession.  Webster,  with  a 
seer's  mind,  laid  bare  Haynes'  whole  doctrine  and  purpose.     People  had 


FANEUIL    HALL,   BOSTON CALLED   BY    WEBSTER   "THE   CRADLE   OF   LIBERTY 


come  from  different  parts  of  the  country  to  hear  his  speech.  The  effect  was 
tremendous,  crystallizing  the  sympathies  of  both  the  North  and  West.  If 
measured  by  its  result  no  single  speech  has,  perhaps,  ever  moved  the  nation 
so  deeply.  Such  powerful  reasoning  and  magnificent  eloquence  was  unani- 
mously convincing.  Haynes  himself  afterwards  said  the  result  was  over- 
whelming. Mr.  Webster  stood  all  this  time,  like  a  giant,  his  eyes  glowing, 
his  voice  organ-like  in  its  melody  of  rise  and  fall;  his  logic,  invective,  sarcasm 
and  humor  following  each  other  in  bewildering  mastery. 

So  gifted  and  so  helpful  to  the  Whig  party  it  is  not  surprising  that  he 
should  seek  the  office  of  Presidency,  but  for  one  reason  or  another  it  ever  lay 
just  beyond  his  reach. 


/•^  DANIEL   WEBSTER. 

V\^hen  the  Whig  party  under  Tyler  came  into  power,  Webster  was 
selected  as  the  Secretary  of  State.  Differences  of  opinion  came  up,  his  col- 
leagues resigned,  but  he  remained  loyal.  His  country  needed  his  services. 
At  this  time  the  United  States  had  three  points  of  dispute  with  Great  Britain, 
any  one  of  which  might  have  led  to  war,  but  Mr.  Webster  conducted  them  to 
a  peaceful  issue  and  at  the  same  time  widened  the  scope  of  our  treaties. 

\\'hen  he  re-entered  the  Senate  in  1845  he  was  brought  again  into  the 
midst  of  the  great  issues  of  the  cotmtry.  Unfortunately  his  speech  of  May 
7,  1850,  offended  his  constituents,  and  when  in  Faneuil  Hall  he  endeavored 
to  explain  his  course  he  was  received  with  coldness  and  dissent;  yet  his 
position  did  not  vary  in  the  least  from  that  which  he  had  previously  ex- 
pressed. It  was  the  people  who  were  changed.  Coldness  was  deepening  be- 
tween the  North  and  the  South.  Mr.  Webster  feared  alike  the  Abolitionist 
and  the  Secessionist,  yet  he  was  in  sympathy  with  Henry  Clay's  views  and 
helped  on  the  "Missouri  Compromise."  He  tried  to  save  the  Union  by  that 
compromise,  but  the  time  for  a  middle  course  was  now  gone.  Going  before 
the  Whig  convention  in  1852  he  threw  all  his  influence  and  energy  on  the  side 
of  what  he  considered  right,  but  failed.  His  star  had  set.  As  the  compro- 
mise carried  with  it  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law  he  failed  again  to  carry  the  nom- 
ination of  his  party  to  the  Presidency.  The  Bible  quotation  was  fitly  exem- 
plified, "A  house  divided  against  itself  cannot  stand."  So  with  his  party.  He 
died  in  October,  1852,  before  the  election,  and  hence  was  spared  the  humilia- 
tion of  seeing  the  fall.  He  was  born  January  18,  1782,  thus  compassing  a 
little  over  three  score  and  ten  years.  They  were  great  years,  calling  for  vast 
expenditures  of  life  force,  and  he  gave  freely  of  all  he  had. 


BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN 


SCIENTIST,  JOURNALIST,  STATESMAN 


'  He  snatched  the 

lightning  from  heaven 
and  the  scepter  from  the  hands 
of  tyrants. 

— Turgot. 

HE  ancestors  of  Benjamin  Frank- 
4  lin    lived    for    three    hundred 

^^ii_  years  or  more  in  the  village  of 
Ecton,  in  Northamptonshire,  England. 
The  first  of  the  family  of  whom  there  is 
any  record  owned  and  cultivated  a 
small  farm  of  thirty  acres  and  eked 
out  his  small  income  by  blacksmithing. 
This  farm  remained  in  the  hands  of 
the  family  until  they  came  to  America, 
always  passing  at  the  death  of  the 
father  to  the  eldest  son,  as  landed  prop- 
erty did  in  England  and  does  to  this 
day.  The  eldest  son  also  inherited  the 
father's  occupation,  so  that  all  the 
owners  of  this  little  farm  were  also 
blacksmiths. 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN 

Joseph  Franklin,  the  father  of  Benjamin,  being  a  younger  son. 
did  not  come  into  the  family  property  or  the  paternal  occupation,  but 
became  a  soap-boiler  and  tallow-chandler.  He  had  separated  from 
the  Church  of  England,  and,  wishing  a  greater  degree  of  religious 
freedom,  came  to  New  England  about  1685.  He  had  seven  children 
by  his  first  wife,  who  came  with  him  from  England.  After  her  death 
he  married  again  and  brought  up  a  second  family  of  ten  children. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  the  fifth  son  of  the  fifth  son  for 
five  generations  back.  He  was  the  youngest  son,  and  naturally  enough 
was  called  Benjamin.  His  mother  was  Abiah  Folger,  the  daughter 
of  Peter  Folger,  one  of  the  earhest  New  England  settlers,  a  man  of 
some  note  in  his  day  and  the  writer  of  occasional  verse.  Only  one 
of  his  poems,  however,  was  ever  printed,  and  we  may  judge  from 
the  single  stanza  which  has  come  down  to  us  through  the  writings  of 
his  distinguished  grandson,  that  the  world  lost  little  in  losing  the 
remaining  poems. 

Benjamin  was  born  in  1706  in  Boston,  which  was  then  a  strag- 
gling town  of  not  more  than  ten  thousand  inhabitants,  though  the 
largest  and  most  important  in  America.  Queen  Anne  was  still 
touching  to  cure  the  King's  Evil,  and  ruling  over  England  and  her 
ten  American  colonies — the  last  three  of  the  thirteen  were  yet  in  the 
future.  There  were  no  railroads  or  even  stage-coaches.  Wolves  and 
bears  disputed  the  right  of  way  with  the  Indians  from  one  end  to  the 
other  of  the  ' '  shaggy  continent, "  and  witches  still  cantered  on 
broom-sticks  up  and  down  the  length  of  those  civilized  portions  of  the 
country  from  which  the  more  material  foes  had  been  exterminated. 
The  publication  of  the  first  newspaper  on  the  continent,  the  Boston 
News-Letter,  had  been  begun  only  four  years  before,  and  it  was  a 
small  sheet  of  not  much  account,  except  that  it  was  a  beginning  and 
a  prophecy.  It  was  high  time  for  Benjamin  Franklin  to  be  born  if 
journahsm  was  going  to  get  a  start  in  the  United  States  in  the  eight- 
eenth century. 

Benjamin  commenced  to  go  to  school  when  he  was  eight  years 
old.  He  had  already  learned  to  read  and  had  convinced  his  friends 
that  he  should  be  a  scholar.  His  father  thought  of  making  him  a 
minister,  and  his  uncle  Benjamin  promised  him  a  volume  of  sermons 
which  he  had  himself  taken  down  in  shorthand.     But  his  father  found 


SCIENTIST,  JOURNALIST,  STATESMAN. 

that  he  would  be  unable  to  give  his  son  a  college  education,  and  the 
ministry  had  to  be  given  up.  His  father  then  thought  that  writing 
and  arithmetic  would  be  about  all  he  would  need  for  business  life,  and 
he  was  accordingly  sent  to  a  school  where  nothing  was  taught  but 
those  branches. 

When  he  was  ten  years  old  his  schooling  came  to  an  end,  for  his 
father  took  him  out  of  school  to  stay  in  the  shop  and  help  make  soap 
and  candles.  He  would  cut  the  wicks,  pour  the  melted  tallow 
into  the  molds,  run  errands  and  the  like. 

But  Benjamin  did  not  like  the  tallow  trade.  He  thought  he 
would  much  prefer  to  be  a  sailor.  He  was  a  good  swimmer  and 
learned  to  manage  a  boat  well.  But  his  father  was  unwilling  he 
should  go  to  sea,  and  that  was  the  end  of  it. 

He  was  a  leader  among  the  boys,  and,  on  one  occasion  at  least, 
led  them  into  mischief.  The  boys  used  to  stand  and  fish  on  the  edge 
of  a  salt  marsh.  The  place  had  become  very  muddy  through  much 
tramping,  when  Benjamin  suggested  to  the  boys  that  they  should 
build  a  wharf  to  stand  on  and  so  keep  themselves  out  of  the  mud. 
There  was  a  heap  of  stones  near  by  which  were  designed  for  a  new 
house.  The  young  builders  waited  until  the  workmen  had  all  gone 
away,  when  they  carried  over  all  the  stones  they  needed  and  built 
their  wharf.  The  boys  were  complained  of  and  punished;  "and," 
writes  Franklin  in  his  autobiography,  * '  though  I  demonstrated  the 
utility  of  our  work,  mine  convinced  me  that  that  which  was  not  honest 
could  not  be  truly  useful." 

Benjamin  was  very  fond  of  reading,  but  books  were  not  over 
plenty  in  those  days,  even  in  Boston.  The  first  books  he  ever 
owned  were  the  works  of  Bunyan.  After  he  had  read  and  re-read 
them  to  his  heart's  content  he  sold  them  and  used  the  money  to  buy 
Burton's  Historical  Collection,  a  set  of  forty  small  volumes. 

His  father,  like  a  sensible  man,  watched  the  boy  to  find  out  if 
possible  what  he  was  best  fitted  for.  Since  Benjamin  was  so  fond  of 
reading,  his  father  thought  it  might  be  well  to  have  him  taught  the 
printer's  trade.  Benjamin  consented  to  this,  though  he  still  preferred 
the  sea.  At  the  age  of  twelve  he  was  apprenticed  to  his  printer 
brother,  James,  who  soon  afterwards,  probably  about  the  year  1720, 
began  to  publish  the  second  American  newspaper,  the  New  England 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN 

Courant,  though  against  the  advice  of  a  number  of  croaking  friends 
who  said  one  newspaper  was  enough  for  America.  Benjamin's 
apprenticeship  was  to  last  until  he  was  twenty-one,  his  brother  was 
to  provide  his  food,  lodging  and  clothing,  and  during  the  last  year  was 
to  pay  him  the  wages  of  a  journeyman  printer. 

His  business  was  to  set  type,  do  the  press  work  on  the  paper, 
and  run  on  errands.  This  work  gave  him  an  acquaintance  with  people 
who  owned  a  few  books  and  enabled  him  sometimes  to  borrow  them. 
He  would  often  sit  up  nearly  all  night  in  order  to  read  a  book 
through  and  return  it  promptly. 

About  this  time  he  began  to  like  poetry  and  even  undertook  to 
write  it  himself.  Fortunately  his  father  criticised  his  verse  and  told 
him  verse-makers  were  generally  beggars.  ''Thus,"  he  says  in  his 
autobiography,  "I  escaped  being  a  poet,  and  probably  a  very  bad 
one."  And  there  is  not  much  doubt  that  he  was  correct  in  that 
modest  opinion.  He  seems  not  to  have  been  gifted  with  the  qualities 
of  a  poet,  but  his  verse-making  exercises  doubtless  did  much  to 
form  and  improve  his  style  in  prose,  of  which  he  in  time  became  a 
master. 

It  must  have  been  soon  after  the  Nezv  England  Courant  got  well 
under  way  that  Benjamin  began  to  think  he  could  write  prose  as 
well  as  some  of  the  gentlemen  who  were  in  the  habit  of  contributing 
to  the  paper.  He  was  a  little  afraid  of  his  brother's  criticism  and  so 
began  to  slip  his  contributions  for  the  paper  under  the  door  at  night 
after  his  brother  was  gone.  Some  of  them  were  heartily  praised  by 
persons  whom  he  considered  good  judges  ;  and,  best  of  all,  when 
they  tried  to  guess  the  writer  they  invariably  hit  upon  scholars  and 
men  of  abihty.  This  encouraged  him  to  continue  and  he  hit  upon 
various  devices  for  improvement.  Some  of  these  are  worth  describ- 
ing, because  they  would  be  just  as  useful  to  a  boy  or  girl  who  is 
trying  to  become  a  writer  in  these  days  as  they  were  to  Benjamin 
Franklin,  who  became  by  means  of  these  methods  one  of  the  very 
finest  of  American  prose  writers. 

An  odd  volume  of  the  Spectator  having  fallen  into  his  hands  by 
chance,  he  was  so  charmed  with  the  beauty  of  the  style  as  well  as  the 
matter  that  he  determined  to  imitate  it.  In  order  to  learn  to  do  this 
he  made  brief  outlines  of  certain  parts,  laid  them  aside  for  a  few  days 


SCIENTIST,  JOURNALIST,  STATESMAN. 

and  then  tried  to  write  out  the  thoughts  as  fully  as  they  had  been 
expressed  before,  always  using  the  very  best  language  he  could 
command.  Then  he  compared  his  writing  with  the  original  and 
corrected  such  faults  as  he  discovered.  He  next  took  some  of  the 
Spectator  stories  and  changed  them  into  verse,  and  when  he  had  had 
time  to  forget  the  original,  he  turned  them  back  to  prose  again.  It 
was  such  exercises  as  these  continually  practiced,  together  with  the 
habit  of  reading  the  best  books  he  could  find,  that  developed  in  this 
boy  who  owed  so  little  to  the  schools,  that  felicitous  style  which  we 
enjoy  so  much  in  his  autobiography.  And,  whether  we  are  thinking 
of  the  effect  on  style  or  on  character,  we  can  scarcely  say  too  much 
about  the  importance  of  choosing  the  best  books.  If  you  will  send 
me,  a  year  from  this  Christmas,  a  list  of  the  books  you  have  read  in 
the  twelve  months  just  preceding,  with  the  one  thing  that  you 
remember  best  in  each  one,  I  can  tell  your  fortune.  And  it  will  be 
truer  than  the  gypsy  woman  will  tell  you  with  her  cards  or  her 
palmistry,  or  even  by  asking  the  stars.  I  am  putting  the  time  ahead 
to  give  you  a  fair  chance  and  a  little  more.  It  would  perhaps  be 
taking  a  mean  advantage  to  ask  what  you  had  read  before  you 
thought  about  it,  though  the  effect  of  that  reading  can  not  be  lost  or 
put  aside,  for  Nature  never  forgives  our  mistakes.  But  she  is  giving 
us  a  chance  all  the  time  to  try  again  and  do  better  next  time. 

In  the  eighteenth  century,  people  had  not  yet  become  acquainted 
with  newspapers  and  were  of  course  a  little  afraid  of  them,  just  as 
they  were  of  comets  in  the  days  when  it  was  thought  probable  they 
might  strike  or  bring  on  pestilence  or  war.  It  was  not  an  unusual 
thing  for  an  editor  to  be  put  into  prison  for  a  little  freedom  of  speech 
of  which  we  should  think  nothing.  Now,  Benjamin's  brother  was 
thought  a  little  too  free  with  his  pen,  or  his  type,  rather,  in  the 
Courant,  and  was  shut  up  for  a  month  in  jail  by  way  of  punishment. 
During  this  time  Benjamin  had  a  chance  to  show  how  he  could  edit 
a  paper  and  he  kept  the  Courant  going  very  creditably.  The  editor 
was  at  length  set  free  on  condition  that  ' '  James  Franklin  should  no 
longer  print  the  newspaper  called  the  Nczv  England  Courant. " 

He  set  to  work  to  try  to  elude  the  order.  He  at  first  thought  of 
changing  the  name  of  the  paper,  but  as  that  was  not  convenient,  he 
hit  upon  the  expedient  of  publishing  it  in  the  name  of  Benjamin 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN 

Franklin.  In  order  to  do  this  he  was  obliged  to  destroy  the  inden- 
tures, or  contract  with  Benjamin,  since  an  apprentice,  like  a  slave, 
could  not  legally  do  business.  But  he  took  care  to  have  other 
indentures  made  out  privately.  The  paper  was  published  in  this 
way  for  several  months.  The  scheme  was  neither  very  bright  nor 
very  honest,  and  you  shall  presently  hear  what  came  of  it. 

Meantime,  Benjamin  and  his  brother  were  not  on  the  best  of 
terms.  His  brother  was  rather  a  hard  master  and  used  sometimes  to 
beat  him  severely.  Benjamin  was  growing  independent,  partly 
because  he  had  a  little  money  of  his  own  and  partly  because  he  was 
sure  his  brother  would  not  dare  make  use  of  the  private  indentures 
to  compel  him  to  remain  in  case  he  chose  to  go  away. 

He  had  saved  his  money  by  economizing  on  his  board, 
his  brother  having  consented  at  his  request  to  give  him  half  as 
much  money  every  week  as  his  board  had  been  costing,  on  condition 
that  he  should  provide  his  own  food.  He  lived  very  cheaply  and  was 
able  to  save  half  of  what  his  brother  gave  him. 

He  decided  to  go  to  New  York  to  seek  his  fortune.  He  was  now 
seventeen  years  old.  He  sold  his  books  to  add  a  Httle  to  his  small 
sum  of  money,  and  took  passage  on  a  boat  bound  for  New  York, 
where  he  arrived  in  three  days  with  very  little  money  and  without  a 
friend  or  acquaintance. 

He  could  get  no  employment  there  but  he  heard  of  some  work 
in  Philadelphia  which  he  hoped  he  might  obtain,  and  he  set  out  at 
once  for  the  latter  place.  His  adventures  by  boat  and  by  land  were 
interesting,  but  we  must  omit  them  and  bring  him  without  delay  to 
Market  Street  wharf,  Philadelphia. 

He  wore  his  everyday  clothes.  His  best  ones  were  in  his  chest, 
coming  around  by  sea.  His  pockets  bulged  out  with  shirts  and 
stockings.  He  bought  three  large  rolls  and  walked  along  Market 
street  eating,  one  of  his  rolls  and  carrying  another  under  each  arm. 
Miss  Deborah  Read,  the  young  lady  who  was  to  become  Mrs. 
Franklin  a  few  years  later,  stood  in  her  door  and  smiled  at  the  odd 
figure  he  made.  Not  knowing  the  city,  he  wandered  around  until  he 
found  himself  again  at  the  wharf  which  he  had  lately  left.  He  took 
a  drink  of  river  water  and  gave  his  two  remaining  rolls  to  a  hungry 
woman  and  child  and  made  a  fresh  start  for  the  city.     This  time  he 


SCIENTIST,  JOURNALIST,  STATESMAN. 

found  a  nice,  clean-looking  crowd  whom  he  followed  into  a  large 
Quaker  meeting-house  and  sat  down.  Hearing  nothing  to  disturb 
him,  he  went  to  sleep  and  slept  until  the  meeting  was  over.  This 
was  his  first  lodging  in  Philadelphia. 

It  is  a 
great  pity  I 
can  not  stop 
to  tell  how  he 
found  work  in 
a  printing- 
office  in  Phil- 
adelphia and 
how  his  good 
sense  and  in- 
dustry led  on 
from  one  suc- 
cess to  anoth- 
er. He  soon 
attracted  the 
atten  tion  of 
S  i  r  William 
Keith,  the 
Governor  of 
Pennsylvania, 
who  wished 
him  to  set  up 
a  printing- 
office  for  him- 
self and  of-  "'^  ~  ■  ^ 
ered  to  sup- 
ply   him  with 

the  necessary  outfit.  This  he  sent  Franklin  to  England  to  buy, 
promising  him  a  letter  of  credit  to  pay  for  it.  The  letter  of  credit 
never  arrived,  for  the  Governor  was  too  poor  to  carry  out  his  good 
intentions,  and  Franklin  was  thrown  on  his  own  resources  in  a  strange 
country.  But  that  is  never  a  misfortune  to  one  who  has  resources. 
Franklin  knew  his  trade  so  well  that  he  had  no  trouble  in  getting  and 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN 

keeping  employment  in  a  printing-office,  where  he  gained  an  experi- 
ence which  was  afterwards  very  useful  to  him  in  America.  Among 
other  things,  he  learned  to  make  printer's  ink  and  to  engrave  on 
metal. 

But  Franklin  had  learned  one  of  the  best  lessons  of  life  before  he 
went  to  England.  This  lesson  was  temperance  in  both  eating  and 
drinking.  It  was  a  great  surprise  to  his  fellow-workmen  in  London, 
who  were  in  the  habit  of  drinking  four  or  five  pints  of  beer  apiece 
every  day,  to  see  this  * '  Water-American, "  as  they  called  him,  so 
much  stronger  than  any  of  them.  But  they  drank  on  just  the  same 
and  were  four  or  five  shillings  poorer  for  it  every  week,  besides 
weakening  their  bodies  and  muddhng  their  minds  with  what  they 
called  their  strengthening  drink. 

Franklin  spent  about  eighteen  months  in  England.  He  then 
returned  to  Philadelphia  and  worked  as  a  clerk  in  a  store  for  a  little 
while  but  soon  went  back  to  his  old  trade.  After  a  while  he  bought 
a  printing-press  of  his  own  and  started  a  newspaper,  which  he  called 
the  Pennsylvania  Gazette.  This  was  in  1729,  when  he  was  twenty- 
three  years  of  age.  He  was  obliged  to  go  into  debt,  but  he  worked 
his  way  out.  He  kept  no  help  in  his  printing-office.  He  worked 
early  in  the  morning  and  late  at  night.  He  was  type-setter,  press- 
man, ink-maker,  editor,  and  writer  of  a  large  share  of  the  best 
contributions.  He  was  often  seen  with  a  wheelbarrow,  carrying  home 
the  rolls  of  paper  for  printing.  His  fine  constitution  and  his  temper- 
ate habits  enabled  him  to  do  all  this  without  injury  to  his  health. 

In  1730  he  persuaded  Miss  Read  to  marry  him.  He  fitted  up 
the  front  part  of  the  printing-office  for  a  book-store,  and  she  attended 
the  store  and  sold  books  and  stationery.  They  ' '  kept  the  correctest 
stationery  that  ever  appeared "  in  Philadelphia.  They  were  very 
economical  and  thrifty,  and  soon  began  to  be  prosperous. 

Soon  after  his  marriage  he  started  a  plan  for  a  public  library 
in  Philadelphia.  He  afterwards  wrote  in  his  autobiography,  ' '  This 
was  the  mother  of  all  the  North  American  subscription  libraries,  now 
so  numerous  ;  it  is  become  a  great  thing  itself,  and  continually  goes 
on  increasing." 

Then  came  "Poor  Richard's  Almanac,"  which  Franklin  filled 
with  the  best  of   his  wit   and  wisdom.     He  invented  a  new  street 


SCIENTIST,  JOURNALIST,  STATESMAN 

lamp.  He  revised  the  Lord's  Prayer ;  I  have  never  heard  that 
anybody  hked  the  Frankhn  version  better  than  the  original.  He 
organized  a  debating  society,  or  "junto,"  and  a  fire  company.  He 
invented  the  Franklin  stove.  He  devised  a  plan  for  cleaning  the 
streets,  and  another  for  "arriving  at  moral  perfection."  His  brain 
was  never  idle. 

The  country  was  beginning  to  find  him  out.  He  was  made  clerk 
of  the  Pennsylvania  Assembly  in  1736  and  Postmaster  of  Phila- 
delphia in  1737.  But  in  the  midst  of  all  these  duties  he  found  time 
for  a  great  scientific  discovery.  Scholars  in  Europe  were  talking  a 
great  deal  about  electricity.  They  had  a  machine  for  producing  it, 
but  nobody  knew  what  it  was.  Franklin  thought  it  was  the  same 
force  as  lightning,  and  set  about  trying  to  prove  it.  He  made  a  cross 
of  cedar  sticks  and  tied  a  silk  handkerchief  over  it  in  such  a  way  as 
to  make  a  kite.  He  gave  it  a  tail  and  a  hemp  string.  He  fastened  a 
sharp  wire  to  the  top  of  the  cross.  He  tied  a  silk  ribbon  to  the  end 
of  the  twine  and  fastened  a  key  to  the  twine  where  the  ribbon  was 
tied  on.  Then  he  waited  for  a  thunder  shower.  It  came, in  the 
night,  and  Franklin  went  out  and  sent  up  his  kite.  The  wire  drew  the 
hghtning  out  of  the  clouds  and  the  fuzz  on  the  hempen  string  stood 
out  like  quills  on  a  porcupine.  He  struck  the  key  with  his  knuckles 
and  drew  sparks  from  it.  His  kite  had  behaved  exactly  like  the 
machine  for  producing  electricity.  He  had  proved  that  electricity 
and  lightning  are  one.  He  received  great  honor  for  this,  both  in 
America  and  Europe.  But  there  were  some  who  ridiculed  him  and 
said,  ' '  Now  that  you  have  discovered  it,  of  what  use  is  it  ?  "  He 
replied,  "Of  what  use  is  a  child?  It  may  become  a  man."  He 
persevered  until  he  had  invented  the  lightning-rod,  and  by  his  dis- 
coveries made  possible  the  telegraph,  the  telephone,  and  other  great 
electrical  appliances  of  our  day.     The  child  has  grown  to  be  a  man. 

In  1754  Frankhn  was  a  delegate  to  the  Albany  Convention,  and 
it  was  here  that  he  drew  up  and  presented  the  first  plan  for  a  union 
of  the  colonies.  The  plan  was  rejected,  but  it  was  in  a  certain  sense 
a  prophecy  of  the  union  of  states  under  which  we  now  live. 

Franklin  furnished  efficient  service  in  the  French  and  Indian 
war.  He  was  sent  to  England  by  the  Province  of  Pennsylvania  in 
1757  to  plead  the  cause  of  the  people  against  the  proprietors,  the 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN 

descendants  of  William  Penn,  who  were  trying  to  hold  their  immense 
estates  in  this  country  without  the  payment  of  taxes.  He  was  sue- 
cessful  in  his  mission  and  returned  home  after  an  absence  of  five 
years,  covered  with  honors. 

In  1764  he  was  sent  again  to  England,  this  time  to  protest 
against  the  passage  of  the  stamp  act.  The  act  was  passed  in  spite 
of  his  protest,  but  was  afterwards  repealed,  and  Franklin  remained 
in  England  for  ten  years,  acting  as  the  agent  of  the  different  colonies 
in  various  unsuccessful  attempts  to  protect  American  liberties. 

He  returned  home  at  the  breaking  out  of  the  war.  His  wife 
had  died  and  he  now  threw  himself  with  all  the  zeal  of  his  boyhood 
into  the  service  of  his  country.  He  was  one  of  the  committee  to 
draw  up  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  and  one  of  the  signers. 

In  1776  he  was  sent  to  France  to  look  after  our  interests  in  that 
country,  where  he  remained  until  1785.  He  obtained  loans  and 
ammunition  from  the  French,  and  in  1778  he  succeeded  in  bringing 
about  the  French  alliance. 

His  popularity  there  is  still  a  subject  for  wonder.  All  France, 
even  elegant  Paris,  went  wild  over  plain  Ben  Frankhn.  Shop- 
keepers would  rush  out  to  catch  a  glimpse  of  his  brown  overcoat  and 
long  gray  curls  as  he  passed  along  the  street.  Snuff-boxes  were 
painted  with  his  portrait,  "Franklin"  hats  and  "Franklin"  collars 
were  all  the  fashion,  and  ladies'  gloves  were  dyed  a  ' '  Franklin " 
color. 

It  is  still  another  wonder  to  both  French  and  English  how 
Franklin,  with  Jay  and  Adams,  obtained  such  good  terms  for  America 
in  the  treaty  of  peace  which  ended  the  war  of  the  Revolution  in  1783. 

Almost  immediately  upon  his  return  he  was  elected  President  of 
Pennsylvania.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Constitutional  Convention, 
and  though  he  was  then  a  feeble  old  man,  his  influence  was  still 
powerful.  In  1790  he  signed  a  petition  asking  Congress  to  abolish 
the  slave  trade  and  emancipate  the  slaves.  This  was  his  last  public 
service.     He  died  on  the  17th  of  April,  1790. 

When  we  remember  how  meager  were  the  opportunities  of  the 
boy  and  how  many  and  great  the  triumphs  of  the  man,  we  are  made 
to  wonder  whether,  after  all,  circumstances  have  much  to  do  with 
destiny.      Ben  Franklin  had  but  two  years  of  schooling.      All  the 


SCIENTIST,  JOURNALIST,  STATESMAN. 

rest  of  his  life  was  filled  and  crowded  with  work  and  a  busy  man's 
affairs.  Yet  he  made  himself  a  scholar,  even  in  the  eyes  of  the 
learned.  He  learned  to  read  easily  in  French,  Italian,  Spanish  and 
Latin.  He  was  the  most  renowned  scientist  of  his  day.  No  man 
of  his  time  was  better  informed  with  regard  to  the  progress  and 
nature  of  passing  events.  As  has  been  said  before,  he  was  a  master 
of  the  English  language.  His  autobiography  has  been  called  a  clas- 
sic from  his  day  to  ours.  He  was  made  Master  of  Arts  by  both 
Cambridge  and  Yale.  He  received  degrees  from  the  two  great 
universities  of  England,  Cambridge  and  Oxford.  His  political 
services  to  his  own  country  during  the  two  great  wars  through  which 
he  lived  were  second  to  none  but  those  of  Washington. 

Franklin  had  his  limitations  and  made  mistakes,  but  his  frank 
admissions  ought  to  go  a  long  way  towards  making  us  forget  them — 
' '  my  present  purpose  being, "  he  writes  in  his  autobiography,  ' '  to 
relate  facts,  and  not  to  make  apologies  for  them." 

And  after  all,  perhaps  the  capstone  of  his  praise  is  this:  He  was 
an  honest  man. 


EXTRACTS  FROM  POOR  RICHARD'S  ALMANAC. 

Buy    what    thou    hast    no    need  of,   and    ere  long  thou  shalt    sell   thy 
necessaries. 


Pride  is  as  loud  a  beggar  as  Want,  and  a  great  deal  more  saucy. 


Silk  and  satins,  scarlets  and  velvets,  put  out  the  kitchen  fire. 


Wise  men  learn  by  others'  harms,  fools  scarcely  by  their  own. 


Fond  pride  of  dress  is  sure  a  very  curse; 
Ere  fancy  you  consult,  consult  your  purse. 


Vessels  large  may  venture  more, 

But  little  boats  should  keep  near  shore. 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN. 

I  never  saw  an  oft-removed  tree, 

Nor  yet  an  oft-removed  family, 

That  throve  so  well  as  one  that  settled  be. 


Many  estates  are  spent  in  the  getting. 

Since  women  for  tea  forsook  spinning  and  knitting, 

And  men  for  punch  forsook  hewing  and  splitting. 


WILLIAM  E.  GLADSTONE 

THE  GRAND  OLD  MAN 


r^ 


!W!W 


j,a^..»'.:*;jj>^' 


,i 


I  do  not  admit  fail- 
ure; I  admit  success  to 
be  incomplete. 

— Gladstone, 


^ 


m&sA 


^^ 


HE  year  1809  would 
be  memorable 
'13-.  enough  in  the  rec- 
ords of  the  English-speak- 
ing race  if  it  had  given  to 
the  world  only  Abraham 
Lincoln  among  those  who 
should  live  in  history.  It  gave 
also  William  Ewart  Gladstone, 
one  of  the  greatest  statesmen 
of  his  own  or  any  other  time. 
He  was  born  in  Liverpool 
on  the  29th  of  December. 
Many  generations  back,  it  is 
recorded  that  the  family  name 
was  Gledstanes.  It  was  later 
changed  to  Gladstones,  and 
two  or  three  generations  back 
of  the  subject  of  the  sketch,  it 
dropped  the  s  and  became 
Gladstone. 


WILLIAM  E.   GLADSTONE 

William  E.  Gladstone  was  a  Scotch  Englishman.     His  father, 
Sir  John  Gladstone,  was  a  Lowland  Scotchman,  his  mother  a  High- 


GLADSTONE'S  ANCESTORS   WERE   GRAIN    MERCHANTS. 

lander.  Sir  John  was  a  man  of  great  energy,  as  might  have  been 
expected  of  the  father  of  William  Ewart.  He  was  a  wealthy  and 
thriving  grain  merchant  of  Liverpool,  as  was  his  father  before  him. 


THE  GRAND  OLD  MAN. 

His  wife,  the  mother  of  William,  was  a  woman  of  many  accomplish- 
ments. She  is  said  to  have  been  a  descendant  of  Robert  Bruce  of 
Scotland. 


GI.ADSTONE;   SERVING  THE   UPPER   FORM    BOYS   AT   ETON. 

Four  sons  and  two  daughters  came  into  the  Gladstone  home. 
One  son  besides  William  became  a  member  of  Parhament,  and  an- 


WILLIAM  E.   GLADSTONE 

other  was  at  one    time  mayor  of    Liverpool.     The   daughters  died 
young.     William  outlived  all  the  others  many  years. 

The  father  seems  to  have  known  how  to  whet  his  children's 
minds  for  knowledge.  No  question  was  ever  looked  upon  as  settled 
until  it  had  been  well  discussed  and  the  boys  put  on  their  mettle 
in  the  debate.  It  was  here  when  a  very  young  lad  that  William 
Gladstone  began  his  career  as  an  orator. 


ETON  COLLEGE. 


For  a  short  time  he  attended  a  private  school  near  Liverpool. 
When  he  was  eleven  years  old,  the  great  world  began  to  open  to 
him  through  the  gates  of  Eton,  a  quaint  old  school  for  boys,  which 
was  founded  in  the  fifteenth  century  by  King  Henry  VI.  Eton  is 
twenty-two  miles  southwest  of  London  and  just  across  the  Thames 
from  Windsor  Castle.  It  is  one  of  the  most  interesting  places  in  all 
England.     The  chapel  is  very  beautiful.     A  great  many  distinguished 


THE  GRAND  OLD  MAN, 

men  began  their  education  here,  and  many  now  famous  names  are 
carved  with  jack-knives  on  the  desks  and  walls — among  them  that  of 
Gladstone. 

There  he  became  acquainted  with  the  curious  custom  of  fagging, 
which  in  all  the  great  English  schools  has  come  down  from  a  time  so 
long  ago  that  no  one  knows  how  it  began.  Its  main  feature  is  that 
the  lower  class,  or  lower  form  boys,  as  they  are  called  there,  shall 
wait  upon  the  upper  form  boys,  cooking  their  breakfasts,  brushing 
their  clothes  and  doing  everything  which  the  upper  boys  would  have 
to  do  for  themselves  if  they  had  no  one  to  take  the  place  of  a  servant. 
The  wealthiest  boys  in  the  kingdom  are  educated  at  these  schools 
and  take  the  part  of  fags  like  the  others.  A  grandson  of  Queen  Vic- 
toria is  now  at  Eton  and  blacks  the  boots  of  his  superior  as  cheerfully 
as  if  he  had  always  been  accustomed  to  such  service. 

William  Gladstone  was  called  the  prettiest  little  boy  that  ever 
went  to  Eton,  and  the  description  must  have  been  a  true  one,  for  a 
recent  writer  who  has  known  him  well  for  many  years  says  he  was 
the  handsomest  old  man  that  ever  went  to  Eton  or  anywhere  else. 

He  is  not  remembered  by  his  Eton  mates  as  having  been  a 
great  athlete  in  those  days.  He  cared  little  for  games,  but  was  fond 
of  rowing  and  walking.  He  preferred  such  studies  as  history  and 
languages  to  mathematics  and  science.  He  took  a  prominent  part  in 
the  debates  of  the  Eton  society  and  edited  the  Eton  ' '  Miscellany. " 
Here  is  one  stanza  of  a  poem  which  he  wrote  in  Eton  days  to  the 
memory  of  Wat  Tyler,  a  labor  agitator  of  the  time  of  Richard  II. : 

"  Shade  of  him  whose  valiant  tongue 
On  high  the  song  of  freedom  sung  ! 
Shade  of  him  whose  mighty  soul 
Would  pay  no  taxes  on  his  poll!  " 

He  wrote  some  creditable  Latin  verses,  a  long  poem  on  Richard 
Coeur  de  Lion,  and  a  paper  on  "Eloquence,"  in  which  occurred  the 
following  almost  prophetic  words :  "A  successful  debut,  an  offer  from 
the  minister,  a  Secretaryship  of  State,  and  even  the  Premiership 
itself,  are  the  objects  which  form  the  vista  along  which  a  young 
visionary  loves  to  look."  The  future  was  already  stirring  in  the 
young  man's  heart. 


WILLIAM  B.  GLADSTONE 

After  leaving  Eton  he  studied  for  some  time  with  a  private  tutor 
and  entered  Christ  Church  College,  Oxford,  in  1829. 

Oxford  is  one  of  the  two  great  universities  of  England,  Cam- 
bridge being  the  other  one.  It  is  very  old  and  it  has  been  said  that 
one  of  its  colleges  was  built  by  King  Alfred.  That,  however,  is  only 
a  tradition.  Many  curious  old  customs  are  still  kept  up  here,  as  at 
Eton.  One  is  that  of  bringing  in  the  boar's  head  on  a  platter  at 
Christmas  time,  while  the  old  noels,  or  Christmas  carols,  are  sung. . 


CHRIST    CHURCH    COLLEGE — OXFORD. 

Young  Gladstone  soon  took  high  rank  in  Oxford.  He  took 
plenty  of  recreation,  mingled  freely  in  the  social  life  of  the  students, 
and  spent  more  time  in  athletics  than  he  had  in  Eton.  But  during 
his  study  hours  his  door  was  locked  and  no  one  ever  saw  him.  The 
future  was  calling  him  for  great  matters  and  he  was  beating  out  the 
answer  in  the  silence  of  his  chamber. 

He  became  Secretary  and  afterwards  President  of  the  Union 
Debating  Society.     Some  one  has  said  that  the  members  of  this  club 


THE  GRAND  OLD  MAN. 

were  conceited  enough  to  think  that  the  Prime  Minister  was  watching 
them  for  members  of  the  Cabinet.  It  would  not  have  been  great 
presumption  on  the  part  of  the  young  men  if  they  had  beHeved  so, 
for,  during  the  century,  Christ  Church  College  alone  has  given  eight 
Prime  Ministers  to  England,  including  Gladstone  himself.  Young 
Gladstone  must  have  already  begun  to  give  promise  of  the  greatness 
within  him,  for  Bishop  Wordsworth  declared  that  he  knew  Gladstone 
would  be  Prime  Minister  when  he  heard  him  deliver  his  maiden 
speech  in  the  Union  Debating  Society,  though  it  is  perhaps  a  little 
unfortunate  for  the  Bishop's  reputation  as  a  seer  that  he  did  not  make 
his  prophecy  public  until  after  it  was  fulfilled. 


DINING  HALL — CHRIST  CHURCH  COLLEGE,    OXFORD. 

Not  content  with  such  societies  as  were  already  existing,  and 
longing,  like  Alexander,  for  more  worlds  to  conquer,  Gladstone 
established  a  society  of  his  own,  which  used  to  meet  regularly  in  the 
rooms  of  the  students.  It  was  at  first  named  the  Oxford  Essay 
Club,  but  in  time  it  adopted  the  initials  of  its  founder  and  became 
the  Weg. 

It  would  be  interesting  if  we  could  find  out  just  what  influence 
Oxford  had  on  this  young  man.  This  old  university  was  then,  and 
is  to-day  a  little  old-fashioned  in  its  ideas.  It  thinks  the  old-time 
people,  from  Aristotle  down  to  King  James,  knew  pretty  much  all 


WILLIAM  E.    GLADSTONE 

that  was  worth  knowing,  and  that  all  that  has  been  found  out  since 
is  of  comparatively  small  consequence. 

Now  there  is  a  great  deal  of  good  in  this  spirit  that  preserves  the 
wisdom  of  the  past.  Our  forefathers  did  know  a  great  deal  that  it  is 
very  well  for  us  to  hold  fast  to.  And  Oxford  has  often  shown  a 
splendid  loyalty  to  the  kings  of  Great  Britain  and  has  been  magnifi- 
cently faithful  to  the  Church  of  England.  This  is  good,  but  there  is 
always  danger  of  standing  still  or  even  of  going  backwards,  like  the 
cray-fish,  if  you  once  make  up  your  mind  that  the  old  institutions  are 
as  good  as  they  can  be  made.  The  Stuart  kings,  and  even  some  of 
the  kings  of  the  House  of  Hanover,  to  which  Queen  Victoria  belongs, 
have  made  some  mistakes  in  governing.  They  believed  in  the 
' '  divine  right  of  kings  "  to  rule  the  people  in  their  own  way,  and  they 
thought  that  all  the  people  should  have  to  do  with  the  government 
was  to  be  governed  by  it  and  say  nothing.  The  professors  and 
students  of  Oxford  have  usually  stood  for  the  "divine  right  of 
kings,"  and  have  generally  thought  that  nothing  in  the  Church  of 
England  could  be  improved,  from  an  article  of  the  creed  to  the 
pattern  of  a  Bishop's  gown.  Now  if  everybody  had  always  believed 
that  the  old  things  were  as  good  as  they  could  be  made,  and  the  old 
ways  as  good  as  could  be  found  out,  we  should  still  be  living  in  caves 
with  the  cave  bear,  like  our  far-away  ancestors  of  some  thousands  of 
years  ago;  and  the  caves  would  have  no  electric  lighting,  or  hot  and 
cold  water  connections,  or  steam  heating,  or  anything  that  we  in 
these  days  think  comfortable. 

The  spirit  of  Cambridge  is  somewhat  different.  The  faculty 
there  have  more  often  stood  for  the  rights  of  the  people  against  the 
kings,  and  perhaps  a  little  more  often  for  the  people's  privilege  to 
think  for  themselves  in  matters  of  religion.  But  there  is  no  danger 
that  even  Cambridge  will  turn  the  world  upside  down  with  new 
notions. 

In  England  the  party  which  supported  the  king  against  the 
people  whenever  there  were  differences  between  them,  has  for  many 
years  been  called  the  Tory  party;  while  those  who  stood  for  the 
claims  of  the  people  have  been  called  the  Whigs.  At  the  present 
day  the  Tories  are  usually  called  Conservatives,  and  the  Whigs  are 
called  Liberals.      I  have  taken  some  time  to  explain  the  use  of  these 


%HB  GRAND  OLD  MAN. 


WILLIAM  E.   GLADSTONE 

terms  because  we  come  across  them  often  in  reading  the  later  life  of 
Gladstone. 

The  color  worn  by  the  members  of  Oxford  University  is  dark 
blue,  while  the  Cambridge  color  is  light  blue.  Now  if  you  were 
watching  a  boat  race  on  the  Thames  between  the  Oxford  and  Cam- 
bridge crews,  and  if  I  were  to  tell  you  that  everybody  whom  you 
saw  wearing  the  Oxford  dark  blue  was  a  Tory  in  political  matters,  or 
a  Conservative,  as  we  say  now,  and  that  they  also  belonged  to  the 
English  church,  while  every  one  wearing  the  light  blue  was  a  Whig,  or 
Liberal,  and  believed  that  the  state  and  the  church  ought  to  be 
independent  of  each  other,  I  should  not  be  telling  you  the  truth;  and 
it  would  be  a  very  shameful  business,  for  a  great  many  Oxford  people 
are  Liberals  and  a  great  many  Cambridge  people  are  Conservatives. 
But  it  would  be  considerably  truer  than  if  I  were  to  say  just  the 
opposite. 

Now  this  Conservative  or  pre-servative  spirit  as  we  might  call  it, 
in  Oxford  as  elsewhere,  while  it  often  acted  to  preserve  the  best 
things,  was  sometimes  concerned  to  preserve  things  not  so  good. 
When  William  Gladstone  was  in  college,  slaves  were  still  held  in  the 
British  colonies.  The  Tory  element,  which  we  have  seen  prevailed 
in  Oxford,  did  not  indeed  believe  that  human  slavery  was  right,  but 
it  thought  the  time  had  not  yet  come  for  freeing  the  slaves,  and  there 
was  an  old  law  still  on  the  statute  books  which  forbade  either 
Catholics  or  Jews  to  sit  in  Parliament.  The  Whigs  were  trying  to  do 
away  with  these  unjust  laws.  The  Tories  upheld  them.  We  scarcely 
need  to  be  told  that  Oxford  stood  by  the  old  laws.  As  yet  young 
Gladstone  showed  no  tendencies  to  disagree  with  his  Oxford  training. 
He  made  speeches  in  college  on  all  these  questions  and  always  on  the 
Conservative  side.  Says  Justin  McCarthy,  one  of  his  latest  biog- 
raphers, "His  mind  would  appear  to  have  been  a  sort  of  mirror  of 
the  general  mind  of  Oxford — a  veneration  for  the  past,  a  love  of 
tradition,  a  romantic  sentiment  of  reverence  for  the  ancient  institu- 
tions of  the  country,  and  yet  a  mind  open  to  see  the  inevitable 
tendencies  of  the  future. " 

Many  years  later,  looking  back  upon  his  youthful  attitude 
towards  these  great  questions,  Mr.  Gladstone  said:  "  I  trace  in  the 
education  of  Oxford  of  my  own  time  one  great  defect.     Perhaps  it 


THE  GRAND  OLD  MAN. 

was  my  fault;  but  I  must  admit  that  I  did  not  learn,  when  at  Oxford, 
that  which  I  have  learned  since,  namely,  to  set  a  due  value  on  the 
imperishable  principles  of  human  hberty  ....  I  can  only 
assure  you,  gentlemen,  that  now  I  am  in  front  of  extended  popular 
privileges,  I  have  no  fear  of  those  enlargements  of  the  constitution 
that  seem  to  be  approaching.  On  the  contrary,  I  hail  them  with 
desire." 

He  was  destined  before  many  years  to  throw  all  the  weight  of  his 
splendid  intellect  and  all  the  force  of  his  giant  character  into  the 
other  side  of  the  scale. 

He  graduated  with  the  highest  honors  in  1831  and  went  to  Italy, 
expecting  to  spend  some  time  in  study  and  travel,  but  was  called  back 
in  the  course  of  a  few  months  at  the  invitation  of  the  Duke  of  New- 
castle, to  become  a  candidate  for  the  House  of  Commons. 

In  England  the  election  of  members  is  managed  quite  differently 
from  the  way  it  is  done  in  our  Congressional  elections.  In  the  first 
place,  a  candidate  need  not  be  elected  by  the  district  in  which  he 
happens  to  live,  but  may  be  sent  by  any  community  that  is  entitled 
to  a  member  by  law.  I  am  speaking  of  the  lower  House,  or  House 
of  Commons.  The  upper  House  of  Parliament  is  of  course  filled  by 
Lords  and  Bishops,  whose  office  is  either  inherited  or  subject  to 
appointment  by  the  queen  or  prime  minister.  And  in  the  days  of 
which  I  am  writing,  the  people  of  the  borough,  as  a  town  entitled  to 
a  representative  was  called,  had  in  many  places  scarcely  any  claim 
to  elect  the  members  themselves.  Often  all  or  nearly  all  the  land  in 
a  borough  would  be  owned  by  one  man  or  family,  who  generally 
claimed  the  right  to  require  his  tenants  to  vote  as  he  wished.  This 
often  left  the  election  of  a  candidate  practically  in  the  hands  of  one 
man.  Such  boroughs  were  called  pocket  boroughs.  Before  1832, 
also,  there  had  been  ' '  rotten  boroughs, "  as  they  were  called,  where 
the  population  was  so  small  that  they  were  not  rightfully  entitled  to 
representation.  An  instance  of  this  was  Old  Sarum,  which  had  not 
a  house  in  its  borders,  but  sent  two  representatives  to  Parliament 
every  year,  while  Birmingham,  a  large  and  industrious  city,  had  no 
representative  at  all. 

The  Reform  Bill  of  1832  did  much  to  remedy  these  evils,  and 
consequently  a  great  many  Liberals  were  chosen  for  the  Parliament 


WILLIAM  E.  GLADSTONE 

of  1833.  It  was  called  the  Reformed  Parliament,  and  was  the  first 
in  which  William  Gladstone  sat. 

In  the  Duke  of  Newcastle's  borough  he  openly  claimed  the  right 
to  control  the  votes  of  his  tenants.  * '  Have  I  not  a  right  to  do  what 
I  like  with  my  own?  "  he  asked.  And  it  is  an  open  secret  that  he 
chose  Gladstone  for  the  position  because  he  believed  the  young  man 
from  Oxford  was  ' '  against  any  and  every  reform. "  His  son  had 
been  a  college  mate  of  Gladstone's  and  had  heard  him  make  a  speech 
which  gave  that  impression.  It  sounds  very  strange  to  us,  who  have 
thought  of  him  as  the  leader  in  all  great  reforms  in  England  for 
many  years. 

At  the  time  of  taking  his  seat  in  the  first  Parliament,  Gladstone 
was  a  handsome  young  man  of  twenty-four,  with  a  fine  physique,  a 
pale  face,  splendid  eyes,  and  hair  black  as  night;  and  he  grew  hand- 
somer as  the  years  went  on.  Says  Mr.  Justin  McCarthy,  who  knew 
him  intimately  for  many  years:  "I  do  not  believe  I  ever  saw 
a  more  magnificent  human  face  than  that  of  Mr.  Gladstone  after  he 
had  grown  old.  Of  course  the  eyes  were  always  superb.  Many  a 
stranger,  looking  at  Gladstone  for  the  first  time,  saw  the  eyes  and 
only  the  eyes,  and  could  think  for  the  moment  of  nothing  else.  Age 
never  dimmed  the  fire  of  those  eyes. " 

There  were  several  names  in  that  first  Parliament  that  have 
since  become  renowned  names  of  history.  Among  these  were  Sir 
Robert  Peel,  Lord  Macaulay,  now  so  famous  in  literature,  Grote, 
the  historian  of  Greece,  and,  last  but  not  least,  the  great  Irish  orator, 
Daniel  O'Connell,  for  whom  Gladstone  soon  formed  a  strong  and 
lifelong  attachment. 

Gladstone  was  for  many  years  a  consistent  follower  of  that  Tory 
policy  which  he  had  inherited  from  his  beloved  Oxford.  His  father 
owned  property  and  held  slaves  in  the  West  Indies.  He  made  a 
speech  in  which  he  defended  his  father's  course  in  regard  to  slavery. 
He  believed  in  emancipation,  but  thought  it  should  be  gradual  and 
that  the  slaves  should  be  educated  before  being  freed.  He  said: 
"  Let  fitness  be  made  a  condition  for  emancipation;  and  let  us  strive 
to  bring  him  to  that  fitness  by  the  shortest  possible  course."  He 
did  not  then  see  that  the  best  and  oftentimes  the  only  preparation  for 
freedom  is  freedom  itself. 


THE  GRAND  OLD  MAN. 


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WILLIAM  E.  GLADSTONE 

Fortunately,  there  were  those  who  saw  farther;  and  this  same 
Parliament,  through  the  efforts  of  Wilberforce  and  certain  others, 
passed  a  bill  for  immediate  emancipation  and  appropriated  twenty 
million  pounds  to  pay  the  slave  owners  for  their  property.  It  seems 
a  pity  that  Gladstone  had  not  a  nobler  part  in  this. 

On  another  of  the  great  questions  of  the  day  he  took  at  this  time 
the  side  that  was  opposed  to  liberty.  This  was  the  Irish  church 
question.  The  great  majority  of  the  Irish  people  were  Catholic, 
then  as  now.  Yet  the  Enghsh  Parliament  maintained  a  Protestant 
church  in  that  island  and  levied  taxes  to  support  it.  This  compelled 
the  Catholic  majority  to  support  a  church  which  they  hated.  The 
law  was  not  changed  until  1869,  giving  Mr.  Gladstone  time  to  change 
his  mind  and  vote  on  the  side  of  religious  freedom.  He  was  never 
ashamed  or  afraid  to  change  sides  when  he  found  that  he  had  been 
in  the  wrong. 

About  the  time  he  entered  Parliament  he  began  to  study  law. 
This  he  continued  for  six  years,  and  then  gave  up  the  desire  to 
practice  at  the  bar.  But  his  legal  training  was  not  lost.  It  helped 
to  clear  his  mind  for  those  great  political  questions  with  which  he 
was  to  grapple  for  so  many  years. 

In  1834  Gladstone  was  appointed  Junior  Lord  of  the  Treasury, 
and  the  next  year  he  became  Under-Secretary  for  the  colonies.  In 
1838  he  published  his  first  book,  "The  State  in  its  Relations  with 
the  Church. "     This  made  him  many  admirers  and  some  enemies. 

The  same  year  he  made  a  second  visit  to  Italy.  While  in  Rome 
he  met  Miss  Catherine  Glynne,  who  was  spending  the  winter  there 
with  her  sister  Mary  and  her  mother,  Lady  Glynne,  of  Hawarden 
Castle,  Wales.  The  sisters  were  charming  girls  and  were  known  as 
' '  the  handsome  Miss  Glynnes. "  He  had  known  them  before  in 
Wales,  and  his  friendship  for  Catherine  now  made  rapid  progress. 
They  became  engaged,  and  were  married  the  next  year.  Since  that 
time  Hawarden  Castle  has  been  his  home  whenever  his  exacting 
political  life  has  allowed  him  to  escape  from  London.  The  old 
Hawarden  Castle  is  now  a  picturesque  ruin,  covered  with  ivy.  It 
was  used  as  a  fort  in  the  wars  of  the  Saxons  and  Danes.  The 
present  castle  is  a  handsome  structure  built  of  gray  stone.  "  Every- 
thing is  old-fashioned,   quiet  and  comfortable,"  says  a  writer  in  a 


THE  GRAND  OLD  MAN. 


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WII^LIAM  E.    GLADSTONE 

London  paper.  * '  Nothing  could  be  simpler  than  Mrs.  Gladstone's  own 
living-room,  bright  and  sunny,  yellow-walled,  flower-scented,  with  an 
outlook  from  its  wide  windows  upon  the  lawn.  .  .  .  Bright  beds 
of  flowers,  scarlet,  blue,  and  gold,  sparkle  in  the  sun  against  lawns  of 
grass;  and  trees  of  all  greens  stand  round,  from  the  lightest  of  green 
leaves  to  somber  hollies. " 

He  had  a  fine  library  of  about  fifteen  thousand  volumes.  His 
study  he  called  the  Temple  of  Peace,  because  it  was  always  devoted 
to  quiet.  He  was  a  close  student  as  long  as  he  lived  and  read  easily 
in  several  languages.  In  the  room  next  to  the  study  were  two  pianos 
and  an  organ.  Mr.  Gladstone  was  fond  of  music  and  played  the 
piano  well. 

Until  a  very  few  years  ago,  a  favorite  recreation  with  this  strong- 
limbed  statesman  was  that  of  chopping  down  such  trees  in  Hawarden 
Park  as  were  beginning  to  decay  and  needed  removal. 

He  was  now  fast  becoming  prominent  in  public  life.  He  began 
to  fill  high  offices  under  the  government.  During  these  years  he  was 
slowly  changing  his  views  from  Tory  to  Whig,  or  from  Conservative 
to  Liberal.  And  he  changed  his  actions  just  as  fast  as  he  changed 
his  mind.  On  one  occasion  he  resigned  a  high  place  in  the  Cabinet 
because  he  was  not  sure  he  agreed  with  the  Prime  Minister  in  regard 
to  a  certain  bill  whose  principles  he  had  been  in  the  habit  of  oppos- 
ing. A  few  months  later  he  voted  and  made  speeches  in  favor  of 
the  bill. 

He  developed  a  wonderful  talent  for  finances.  Addresses  on 
money-matters  are  usually  considered  dry,  but  Gladstone  knew  how 
to  make  them  so  attractive  that  people  would  listen  spell-bound  to  his 
financial  speeches,  even  when  they  lasted  for  hours.  From  this 
time  on  his  position  as  that  of  one  of  the  great  leaders  of  thought  in 
England  was  assured. 

The  famous  ' '  corn  laws "  laid  heavy  taxes  on  grains,  and  so 
raised  the  price  of  bread-stuffs,  causing  great  suff^ering  among  the 
English  poor.  Gladstone  had  been  a  defender  of  these  taxes,  but 
when  he  saw  the  evil  they  were  producing,  he  turned  squarely  around 
and  threw  his  influence  against  them.  They  were  done  away  with 
largely  through  Gladstone's  efl^orts. 

He  was  always  the  friend  of  peace.     He  opposed  the  Crimean 


THE  GRAND  OLD  MAN. 

war,  but  unsuccessfully.  He  was  sent  as  commissioner  to  the  Ionian 
Islands,  whose  inhabitants  at  that  time  wished  to  be  united  with 
Greece.  He  was  successful  in  bringing  this  union  about.  His 
thorough  knowledge  of  the  Greek  language,  history  and  literature 
made  him  well  fitted  for  this  mission.  About  this  time  he  published 
his  "Studies  on  Homer  and  the  Homeric  Age, "  and  in  1861  a  volume 
of  translations  from  the  Greek. 

During  our  Civil  War,  Mr.  Gladstone  sympathized  with  the 
Southern  people  and  predicted  their  success,  but  a  few  years  later 
he  candidly  admitted  his  mistake.  ' '  I  must  confess, "  he  said,  ' '  that 
I  was  wrong;  that  I  took  too  much  upon  myself  in  expressing  such 
an  opinion,  yet  the  motive  was  not  bad.  My  sympathies  were  then 
where  they  had  long  before  been,  where  they  are  now, — with  the 
whole  American  people. "  Perhaps  there  is  not  another  example  in 
history  of  a  man  who  learned  so  much  by  living  as  Gladstone. 
His  mind  was  always  open  to  the  truth,  and  he  was  always  ready 
to  take  the    next  step  forward. 

By  the  year  1865  he  had  become  too  liberal  in  his  opinions 
to  please  his  University  of  Oxford.  He  was  defeated  in  the  elec- 
tion,  but  was  soon  returned  to    Parliament  from  another  borough. 

In  1866  he  introduced  the  Reform  Bill,  whose  purpose  was  to 
give  the  right  of  voting  to  thousands  of  the  inhabitants  of  Great 
Britain  who  were  then  deprived  of  that  privilege.  It  was  carried 
in   1867. 

In  1869  Mr.  Gladstone  was  made  Prime  Minister,  thus  receiv- 
ing the  highest  office  in  the  gift  of  the  Enghsh  people.  That  office 
he  filled  at  four  different  times.  He  was  once  offered  a  baronetcy 
by  the  queen,  but  this  he  refused.  His  fame  is  safer  with  the 
people  than  any  titles  can  make  it.  The  name  of  Gladstone  will 
need  no  ornamental  attachment  to  make  it  long  remembered  as 
one  of  the  noblest  of  the  nineteenth  century. 

In  1870  he  introduced  the  Irish  Land  Act  into  Parliament. 
Nearly  all  the  land  in  Ireland  was  owned  by  a  few  wealthy  Eng- 
lishmen and  was  occupied  and  tilled  by  poor  Irish  tenants  who  were 
often  turned  out  of  their  hovels  to  die  by  the  roadside  if  unable  to 
pay  the  high  rents  which  were  required.  The  purpose  of  this  Land 
Act   of  Mr.  Gladstone's  was  to  lower   the   rent   and  improve  the 


mLLTAM  E.  GLADSTONE 


GLADSTONE   INTRODUCING   THE    HOME   RULE   BILL. 


■  THE  GRAND  OLD  MAN. 

condition  of  the  tenants.  It  was  opposed  fiercely,  but  was  finally 
passed.  In  1881  he  brought  in  another  Land  Bill,  which  was 
intended  still  further  to  extend  the  rights  of  the  Irish  tenants,  and  it, 
too,  was  passed.  It  was  in  the  debate  on  this  bill  that  he  used  the 
characteristic  words:  "It  is  said  that  we  have  failed  in  Ireland. 
I  do  not  admit  failure.      I  admit  success  to  be  incomplete." 

That  spirit  was  one  of  the  secrets  of  his  marvelous  success. 
He  never  admitted  failure.  He  believed  so  much  in  the  right  that 
he  could  never  doubt  its  final  triumph.  That  faith  gave  him  courage 
to  work  when  others  would  have  given  up  in  despair. 

In  1886  he  brought  in  his  now  famous  Home  Rule  Bill  for  giving 
Ireland  a  Parliament  of  its  own  and  the  right  to  govern  itself.  The 
bill  was  voted  down,  but  Mr.  Gladstone  never  ceased  so  long  as  he 
lived  to  work  for  the  emancipation  of  poor  suffering  Ireland. 

We  must  remember  that  he  began  by  opposing  Irish  freedom  on 
the  ground  that  England  knew  better  what  was  good  for  the  Irish 
than  they  did  themselves.  He  ended  by  asking  from  the  English 
government  all  that  any  reasonable  Irishman  could  think  of  asking. 
He  was  always  moving  on. 

In  1870  he  favored  the  settlement  of  the  Alabama  claims  by  a 
peace  commission  and  the  payment  of  a  large  sum  of  money  by 
Great  Britain  to  this  country  to  settle  the  difficulties  without  war. 
He  was  accused  by  some  of  wanting  "  peace  at  any  price,"  and  made 
many  enemies  at  the  time.  He  could  afford  to  make  enemies  in  such 
a  cause,  for  he  knew  that  time  would  set  him  right  with  the  world. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Gladstone  celebrated  their  golden  wedding  in  1889, 
when  Mr.  Gladstone  was  eighty  years  of  age.  Their  domestic  life 
was  a  singularly  happy  one.  They  had  eight  children,  four  sons  and 
four  daughters.  Two  of  the  sons  have  been  members  of  Parliament, 
and  one  of  the  daughters.  Miss  Helen  Gladstone,  is  one  of  the  vice- 
principals  of  Newnham  college,  and  is  prominent  in  many  movements 
to  secure  opportunities  for  the  higher  education  of  women. 

Mr.  Gladstone  retired  from  Parliament  in  1894  and  gave  the 
remainder  of  his  life  mainly  to  literary  pursuits.  His  sympathy  for 
the  Armenians  during  the  Turkish  outrages  of  1895  and  6  called  forth 
from  his  pen  a  vigorous  and  eloquent  outburst,  which  proved  that  the 
old  fire  still  burned  on.      Until  a  few  months  before  his  death  his 


WILLIAM  E.   GLADSTONE 


health  was  remarkably  vigorous  for  one  of  his  age.     He  preserved  his 
useful  and  honorable  life  to  a  good  old  age  by  means  of  his  regular 

and  temperate 
habits,  his  vig- 
orous exercise, 
and,  above  all, 
by  that  health- 
ful mental  ac- 
tivity which 
characterized 
every  period 
of  his  life. 

Mr.  Glad- 
stone died 
quietly  and 
painlessly,  sur- 
rounded by  his 
family,  on  the 
morning  of  May 
19,  1898.  He 
was  buried  in 
Westminster 
Abbey  with 
many  of  Eng- 
land's greatest 
dead.  His 
death  brought 
messages  of 
sympathy  from 
many  lands  and 
the newspapers 
of  many  coun- 
tries and  languages  united  in  doing  honor  to  the  man  who  was  for  so 
many  years  the  stanch  and  wise  friend  of  the  oppressed  of  all  nations. 


GLADSTONE   AND   GRANDCHILD. 


JAMES  GILLESPIE  BLAINE 

THE  MAGNETIC  STATESMAN 

Said  regarding  James  A.  Garfield : 

"Let  us  believe  that  in  the  silence  of  the  receding  world  he  heard  the  great 

waves  breaking  on  a  farther  shore,  and  felt  already  upon  his  wasted  brow  the 

breath  of  the  eternal  morning." 

— James  G.  Blaine. 


over    a 


♦VYAhEN    for 

VV  quarter  of  a  cen- 
tury a  mail  holds  a  front 
rank  among  the  active 
statesmen  of  his  day,  he 
may  well  be  enrolled  among 
the  Leaders.  Such  a  man 
was  James  Gillespie  Blaine. 
He  came  of  ancestors  who 
on  both  sides,  and  for  many 
generations,  showed  the 
noblest  qualities.  They  were 
residents  of  Pennsylvania, 
the  Gillespies,  his  mother's 
family,  being  large  land- 
owners in  the  southwestern 
section  of  the  State,  and  the 
Blaines  residing  near  Car- 
Hsle,  in  Cumberland  county. 
Mr.  Blaine's  paternal  grand- 
father was  a  colonel  in  the 
Revolutionary  struggle,  and 
was  an  intimate  and 
valued  friend  of  Washing- 
ton. His  patriotism,  integrity, 
fearlessness   and    prudence 


JAMES  G.  BLAINE. 


made  him  an  ideal  leader.  He  won  the  unswerving  loyalty  of  his  men  by  these 
qualities.    From  his  own  purse  Colonel  Blaine  contributed  to  supply  necessi- 


The  magnetic  statesman. 

ties  to  the  suffering  troops  at  Valley  Forge,  and  to  this  timely  help  Wash- 
ington was  wont  to  attribute  the  preservation  of  his  men  in  that  terrible 
crisis. 

The  great  statesman  was  born  at  Indian  Hill  Farm,  Washington  county, 
Pennsylvania,  opposite  Brownsville,  on  the  Monongahela  river.  The  old 
stone  house  in  which  he  first  saw  the  light  still  stands,  though  in  a  sad  state  of 
dilapidation.  It  is  an  old  relic  of  the  days  before  the  Revolution,  having 
been  built  by  Mr.  Blaine's  great-grandfather.  Here,  on  January  31,  1830, 
the  subject  of  this  sketch  was  born.  He  was  one  of  eight  children,  and 
indeed  the  only  one  of  them  whose  record  has  become  conspicuous.  At  six 
years  of  age  his  schooling  began  in  a  little  red  school-house  a  mile  away 
from  his  home.  Two  of  his  early  teachers,  of  whom  he  cherishes  the  kindest 
memories,  survived  to  see  their  former  pupil  reach  the  zenith  of  his  fame. 
Farming,  boating,  horseback-riding  and  attending  school  were  his  chief 
^employments.  He  was  a  voracious  reader,  and  had  a  prodigious  memory 
which  he  taxed  freely,  but  he  grew  up  a  sturdy,  active,  courageous  lad. 
When  eleven  years  of  age  his  intellectual  opportunities  were  greatly  en- 
larged by  his  removal  to  Lancaster,  Ohio,  where  he  made  his  home  with 
the  Hon.  Thomas  Ewing,  a  relative  of  the  family,  and  then  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury.  After  two  years  at  Mr.  Ewing's  he  returned  home  and  entered 
Washington  College,  at  Washington,  Pennsylvania.  An  old  college  mate 
gives  this  testimony  concerning  Mr.  Blaine: 

"To  the  new  boys  and  young  freshmen  Blaine  was  always  a  hero.  To 
them  he  was  uniformly  kind,  ever  ready  to  assist  and  advise  them,  and  to 
make  smooth  and  pleasant  their  initiation  into  college  life.  His  handsome 
person  and  neat  attire;  his  ready  sympathy  and  prompt  assistance;  his 
frank,  generous  nature,  and  his  brave,  manly  bearing,  made  him  the  best- 
known,  the  best-loved  and  the  most  popular  boy  at  college.  He  was  the 
arbiter  among  younger  boys  in  all  their  disputes,  and  the  authority  with  those 
of  his  own  age  on  all  questions.  He  was  always  for  the  'under  dog  in  the 
fight.'  Like  most  college  boys,  he  had  his  sobriquet.  Owing  to  the  fact  that 
he  was  possessed  of  a  somewhat  prominent,  though  shapely,  proboscis,  he  re- 
ceived the  appellation  of  'Nosey  Blaine,'  which  clung  to  him  through  the 
entire  college  life.  His  was  one  of  those  noses  that  would  have  been  the  pride 
and  admiration  of  Napoleon  I.,  and  would  doubtless  have  ranked  high  and 
gained  great  glory  among  the  other  prominent  noses,  whose  owners  were 
selected  by  Napoleon  to  form  the  shining  ranks  of  his  favorite  generals,  as 
a  prominent  nose  was  considered  by  him  a  certain  indication  of  genius  and 
courage.     After  the  usual  term  at  college  he  graduated  with  distinguished 


JAMES   GILLESPIE  BLAINE 

honor,  and  carried  with  him  into  the  world  the  enduring  affection  of  all  those 
who  knew  him  and  with  whom  he  had  been  associated  in  his  alma  mater." 

Mr.  Blaine  graduated  when  a  little  over  seventeen  years  of  age.  His 
class  numbered  thirty-three,  and  as  they  were  young  men  who  were  there  to 
work  their  own  way,  they  were  studious  and  attentive  to  duty,  each  being 
ambitious  to  excel.  Mr.  Blaine  selected  for  his  graduating  oration  this 
theme,  "The  Duty  of  an  Educated  American."  Judged  in  the  light  of  to-day, 
the  oration  displays  a  far-seeing  judgment,  which  foreshadowed  the  states- 
man of  maturer  years.  In  those  days  the  young  college  graduate  did  not 
lounge  about  home,  a  village  beau,  smoking  cigarettes  and  devoting  most  of 
his  time  to  his  hair — at  least  Blaine  did  not.  He  struck  out  at  once  to  seek 
his  fortune.  Soon  after  he  married  Miss  Harriet  Stanwood,  a  young  lady 
who  belonged  to  one  of  the  old  families  of  Maine,  and  in  1853  Mr.  Blaine 
removed  to  that  State,  and  located  at  Augusta,  his  wife's  birthplace.  Here 
he  purchased,  a  half  interest  in  the  Kennebec  Journal,  and  his  natural  bent 
for  the  career  of  journalism,  which  had  before  been  displayed  only  in  occa- 
sional articles,  showed  itself  in  full  force.  It  led  him  thenceforward  to  discard 
the  profession  of  teaching,  upon  which  he  had  entered  with  much  promise, 
and  also  the  practice  of  law,  for  which  he  had  made  some  preparation,  and  in 
which  he  had  abundant  reason  to  feel  assured  of  success.  He  was  eminently 
studious  and  efficient  in  his  editorial  vocation  and  quickly  made  the  Journal 
a  thoroughly  live  and  aggressive  paper.  Five  years  later,  in  1858,  he  was 
elected  to  the  Legislature,  where  he  at  once  took  high  rank  as  an  organizer, 
parliamentarian  and  leader.  He  finally  was  persuaded  to  accept  the  editorship 
of  the  Portland  Advertiser,  though  still  continuing  his  residence  at  Augusta. 

Mr.  Blaine  entered  the  Legislature  of  Maine  in  those  exciting  days  just 
previous  to  the  war — those  days  that  taxed  men  to  their  utmost  tension. 
During  his  incumbency  he  was  twice  elected  Speaker  of  the  lower  House,  and 
served  on  several  of  its  most  important  committees,  but  whether  in  the  chair, 
on  the  floor,  or  in  the  committee-room,  he  was  ever  a  hard  w^orker  and  val- 
uable man.  It  was  but  natural  that  one  so  capable  as  he  should  be  advanced 
to  higher  position.  Accordingly,  in  1862,  he  entered  the  wider  field  of  the 
Federal  Congress.  Strong  men  were  gathering  in  those  halls  of  legislation 
then.  The  nation  was  sending  her  best  men,  as  the  stress  and  strain  of  the 
civil  war  were  trying  every  timber  of  the  ship  of  state.  Mr.  Blaine  therefore 
found  himself  in  a  conclave  of  giants;  but  he  was  at  home  even  among  them; 
his  genius  was  fully  equal  to  the  demands.  During  his  first  term  in  Congress 
he  seemed  intent  on  mastering  all  the  details  of  congressional  procedure.  He 
seldom  spoke,  but  was  always  in  his  place  and  always  voted  on  the  right  side 
and  for  the  saving  of  the  national  life.    When  elected  again,  to  the  Thirty- 


THE   MAGNETIC  STATESMAN. 

ninth  Congress,  he  laid  aside  his  former  reserve,  plunging  actively  into  afifairs, 
and  before  the  end  of  his  next  term,  in  the  Fortieth  Congress,  he  was  "the 
plumed  knight,"  the  acknowledged  leader  of  the  majority  in  the  House, 
The  Forty-first  Congress  chose  him  as  its  Speaker,  and  for  six  consecutive 
years  he  held  this  important  position,  not  being  absent  from  his  post  a  single 
day,  which  strikingly  illustrates  his  wonderful  perfection  of  physical  and 
mental  vigor. 

In  1876,  when  President  Grant's  second  term  was  approaching  its  close, 
Mr.  Blaine  was  a  prominent  candidate  for  the  Presidency.  His  friends  led 
the  ballotings  largely,  but  when  it  became  evident  that  they  could  not  com- 
mand ihe  necessary  majority  to  secure  his  nomination,  they  combined  on  Mr. 
Hayes,  who  thereupon  received  the  nomination.  When  the  Cabinet  posi- 
tions in  the  new  administration  were  assigned.  Senator  Morrill,  of  Maine, 
was  made  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  whereupon  Mr.  Blaine  was  appointed 
to  the  vacant  Senatorship  of  that  State.  The  lower  House  w^as  in  many  re- 
spects better  suited  to  Mr.  Blaine's  special  genius  than  the  Senate.  He  ex- 
celled with  masses  of  men.  His  traditional  "magnetism"  fired  them  and 
molded  them  to  his  will.  The  Senate  is  more  stately  in  its  movements.  It 
is  too  frigid  and  formal  to  be  kindled  readily,  and  yet  Mr.  Blaine  soon  be- 
came an  immense  powder  in  that  grander  sphere,  and  there  he  did  some  of 
his  most  splendid  w^ork.  In  1880  his  name  was  again  presented  for  the 
Presidential  nomination  by  his  numerous  and  unwavering  friends.  But  he 
had  enemies  as  stanch  as  his  friends,  and  again  a  compromise  was  neces- 
sitated. Mr.  Garfield  became  the  choice  of  this  convention  and  was  elected 
triumphantly.  Upon  his  inauguration,  Mr.  Blaine  became  Secretary  of 
State.  Affairs  were  rapidly  coming  into  most  satisfactory  shape  under  his 
molding  hand,  despite  serious  party  oppositions,  when,  on  July  2,  1881,  the 
President  was  shot  down  by  a  murderous  assassin,  and,  after  three  months  of 
agony,  death  closed  this  administration,  and  Mr.  Blaine  retired  to  private 
life. 

In  1884  Mr.  Blaine's  friends  again  rallied  for  his  nomination,  this  time 
with  success.  But  opposition,  which  could  not  prevail  in  the  convention,  did 
prevail  at  the  polls,  and  by  a  very  small  majority  New  York  went  for  her  own 
son,  Mr.  Cleveland,  and  Mr.  Blaine,  by  the  loss  of  her  electoral  vote,  was 
defeated.  He  then  went  abroad,  and  was  everywhere  received  with  the  con- 
sideration due  to  America's  foremost  citizen.  On  all  sides  he  was  honored, 
and  his  views  on  social  and  political  topics  were  eagerly  sought  by  the  coun- 
cillors of  other  nations.  With  love  and  tenacity  undying  his  friends  again 
insisted  on  his  nomination  in  the  convention  to  assemble  in  1888.  But  all 
official  steps  were  forestalled  by  an  open  letter  from  Mr.  Blaine  in  which  in 


JAPIES  GILLESPIE  BLAINE 

most  distinct  terms  he  refused  to  be  considered  at  all  in  the  Presidential  con- 
vention. But  even  this  did  not  suffice.  Interpretations  were  thrust  upon  his 
language  which  it  seemed  impossible  it  should  bear,  and  as  the  convention 
drew  near  the  conviction  grew  that  he  would  not  decline  a  prompt  and  unani- 
mous nomination.  And  so  it  began  to  look  as  if  he  would  really  be  nominated 
by  acclamation,  but  on  the  eve  of  the  convention  he  settled  this  finally  and 
emphatically  by  a  refusal  so  explicit  that  even  an  enemy  could  not  misun- 
derstand him.  So  the  nomination  was  bestowed  upon  General  Harrison. 
This  was  highly  satisfactory  to  Mr.  Blaine,  and  on  his  return  from  Europe  he 
entered  heartily  into  the  campaign,  throwing  his  influence  mainly  in  the 
doubtful  States  and  aiding  essentially  in  the  splendid  victory  scored  at  the 
polls  in  November. 

That  Mr.  Blaine  should  be  recalled  to  the  Secretaryship  of  State  w^as 
natural  and  eminently  proper.  His  fitness  for  that  portfolio  no  one  could 
doubt.  He  had  begun  so  nobly,  in  the  Garfield  administration  which  ter- 
minated so  abruptly  and  so  painfully,  that  a  new  opportunity  seemed  due  him. 
The  opportunity  came  on  the  inauguration  of  President  Harrison,  and  with 
a  splendid  corps  of  Cabinet  associates  Mr.  Blaine  took  up  the  work  he  laid 
down  on  Garfield's  death  in  1881.  In  this  high  post  no  one  could  be  more 
at  ease  and  more  competent. 

Mr.  Blaine's  breadth  of  statesmanship  by  no  means  excluded  the  play 
of  lighter  qualities.  His  nimble  wit,  for  example,  though  always  kept  in  sub- 
jection to  his  more  solid  powers,  was  nevertheless  one  of  his  chief  attractions. 
He  never  made  the  doubtful  reputation  of  a  jester,  l)ut  the  play  of  his  sar- 
casm and  repartee,  keen  as  lightning,  was  only  too  well  known  by  his  an- 
tagonists upon  the  platform  or  on  the  floor  of  Congress.  For  example, 
reviewing  Mr.  Eaton,  of  Connecticut,  in  a  speech  in  the  Senate  one  day, 
Mr.  Blaine  said:  'T  have  read  a  great  deal  from  the  Senator  this  morning, 
and  I  will  read  more  before  I  get  through." 

To  this  Senator  Eaton  replied:  "Perhaps  that  will  be  the  best  part  of 
\our  speech,  except  what  you  may  read  from  Webster." 

Quick  as  a  flash  Mr.  Blaine  retorted:  'T  am  obliged  to  the  Senator  for 
the  exception.     It  is  equal  to  Dogberry's  injunction,  'Put  God  first.'  " 

Mr.  Blaine's  power  in  the  sublimest  heights  of  eloquence  found  illus- 
tration in  his  superb  oration,  delivered  at  the  request  of  Congress,  in  com- 
memoration of  President  Garfield.  In  the  presence  of  a  peerless  audience, 
without  resort  to  the  recognized  accessories  of  sensational  oratory,  he  re- 
viewed that  grand  career  in  simple  diction,  with  marvellous  self-poise,  and 
yet  with  an  impressiveness  that  swaved  his  hearers  as  the  grass  is  swayed  by 


THE   MAGNETIC  STATESMAN. 

the  passing  breeze.  If  Mr.  Blaine's  fame  as  an  orator  rested  on  this  one 
effort,  that  fame  were  certainly  assured. 

i\Ir.  Blaine  was  deservedly  popular  as  an  after-dinner  speaker,  and  time 
immemorial  this  has  been  regarded  as  the  crucial  test  of  a  genial,  jovial, 
splendid  soul.  At  one  of  the  most  distinguished  gatherings  of  the  New 
England  Society  of  New  York  he  responded  to  the  toast,  "New  England 
Character,"  in  which  he  made  the  following  brilliant  peroration: 

"Mr.  President,  I  thank  you  very  sincerely,  I  thank  you  all,  gentlemen  of 
the  New  England  Society,  more  than  I  can  express,  for  the  cordiality  of  your 
welcome.  And  in  this  brilliant  scene,  in  this  grand  and  delightful  meeting, 
in  this  assemblage,  surrounded  with  everything  that  gives  comfort  and  grace 
and  elegance  to  social  life,  in  this  meeting,  protected  by  law,  and  itself  repre- 
senting law,  let  me  recall  one  memory  always  present  with  me  on  such  occa- 
sions, and  that  is  the  sadness — if  sadness  may  be  protruded  upon  a  meeting 
such  as  this — the  sadness  which  I  feel  when  I  remember  the  men  who,  in 
1620,  landed  on  the  Plymouth  shore,  and  did  not  survive  the  first  year.  For 
of  all  the  men  engaged  in  great  and  heroic  contests,  those,  I  think,  are  most 
to  be  commiserated  and  most  to  be  sympathized  with  who,  making  all  the 
sacrifices  and  enduring  all  the  hardships,  are  not  permitted  to  enjoy  any  of  the 
triumphs  or  the  blessings.  It  was  Quincy  who  died  before  the  first  shot  was 
fired  in  the  Revolution  he  did  so  much  to  create;  it  was  Warren  who  died 
when  the  first  shot  was  fired;  it  was  Reynolds  who,  when  rallying  his  corps 
for  the  doubtful  and  critical  battle  of  Gettysburg,  fell  before  he  knew  its  fate; 
it  was  McPherson,  in  the  great  march  to  the  sea,  who  lost  his  life  before  he 
knew  the  issue  of  that  daring  and  almost  romantic  expedition.  For  these 
and  all  such,  from  Plymouth  Rock  to  the  last  battle-field  of  the  rebellion,  that 
perished  in  their  pride,  and  perished  before  they  knew  that  what  fliey  were 
dying  for  should  succeed,  I  offer,  and  I  am  sure  you  will  join  me  in  offering, 
our  profound  veneration,  our  respectful  homage." 

The  most  agreeable  and  brilliant  year  of  Mr.  Blaine's  public  life, 
although  he  was  suffering  from  a  stroke  of  paralysis,  from  which  he  never 
fully  recovered,  was  the  first  one  of  the  Harrison  administration.  In  this 
year  he  saw  the  meeting  of  the  Pan-American  Conference  and  the  develop- 
ment of  the  policy  of  peace  which  he  had  long  sought  to  accomplish.  Mr. 
Blaine's  physical  condition,  with  a  climax  of  numerous  misfortunes  about  the 
same  time,  led  to  his  death  January  23rd,  1893.  The  funeral,  which  was  a 
private  one,  although  official  in  character,  took  place  January  30th,  within 
one  day  of  his  sixty-third  birthday. 


ANDREW  CARNEGIE 


PENNSYLVANIA'S  IRON  KING 


Never  think  vour  education  ended. — Canicgie. 


*  u]  NDREW  CARNEGIE  was 
Qj  J-  born  at  Dunfermline,  Scot- 
land, the  25th  of  November,  1835. 
When  he  was  twelve  years  of  age  he 
emigrated  to  America  and  settled  at 
Pittsburg  with  his  parents  and  a 
younger  brother.  He  was  then 
almost  penniless.  To-day  he  is  sup- 
;^  posed  to  be  worth  a  quarter  of  a 
billion  dollars,  and  he  wields  an  in- 
fluence in  the  industrial  world  as 
L^reat,  possibly,  as  that  of  any  living- 
man.  It  may  be  said  that  Mr.  Car- 
negie was  exceptionally  equipped 
for  success  both  mentally  and  mor- 


allv 


numbering  among  his  mental 


qualities  shrewdness,  persistence,  a 
ANDREW  CARNEGIE.  good  memory  and  an  intuitive  in- 

sight into  character,  and  among  his  moral  qualities  integrity,  gratitude  and 
geniality.  But  his  phenomenal  rise  in  life  must  be  attributed  largely  to  his 
following  certain  clear  principles  and  methods.  Some  of  these  he  has  de- 
fined in  an  admirable  address  to  the  students  of  a  commercial  college  at 
Pittsburg.     These  are  his  maxims,  summarized: 

"Avoid  drink;  avoid  speculation;  avoid  endorsements.  Aim  high.  For 
the  question,  'What  must  I  do  for  my  employer?'  substitute  'What  can  I  do?' 
Begin  to  save  early — 'capitalists  trust  the  saving  young  man.'  Concentrate 
your  energy,  thought  and  capital;  fight  it  out  on  one  line."  (The  lack  of 
concentration  he  considers  the  failing  of  American  business  men.) 

To  these  injunctions  he  might  well  have  added  another,  suggested  by 


PENNSYLVANIA'S  IRON    KING. 

his  own  career:  "Never  think  your  education  ended."  Promp,t  as  he  is 
to  grasp,  new  ideas  and  to  test  every  new  theory  connected  with  his  indus- 
trial enterprises,  he  has  never  ceased  expanding  his  thoughts  and  widening 
his  sympathies  by  varied  studies.  The  extent  to  which  he  has  "read, 
marked,  learned  and  inwardly  digested"  good  literature  may  be  inferred 
from  the  many  apt  and  unhackneyed  quotations  with  which  he  fortifies  his 
own  views  in  most  of  his  writings. 

One  characteristic  business  maxim  of  Mr.  Carnegie,  though  invaluable 
to  men  endowed  with  judgment  equal  to  his  own,  is  not  without  danger 
to  employes  who  happen  to  be  more  aspiring  than  shrewd.  "Break  orders 
to  save  owners,"  he  advises,  reversing  an  old  conservative  rule;  "there  never 
was  a  great  character  who  did  not  sometimes  smash  the  routine  regulations 
and  make  new  ones  for  himself.  Do  not  hesitate  to  do  it  whenever  you  are 
sure  the  interests  of  your  employer  will  be  thereby  promoted,  and  when  you 
are  so  sure  of  the  result  that  you  are  willing  to  take  the  responsibility.  Boss 
your  boss  just  as  soon  as  you  can;  try  it  on  early.  Our  young  partners  in 
Carnegie  Brothers  have  won  their  spurs  by  showing  that  we  did  not  know 
half  as  well  what  was  \vanted  as  they  did.  Some  of  them  have  acted  upon 
occasion  with  me  as  if  they  owned  the  firm  and  I  was  but  some  airy  New 
Yorker  presuming  to  advise  upon  wdiat  I  knew  very  little  about."  Mr. 
Carnegie  himself  was  wise  enough  to  see  that  the  plan  suggested  was 
good  for  both  employer  and  employe,  so  long  as  good  judgment  stood  at 
the  helm.  Similarly,  a  general  can  well  depend  upon  subordinates  for  sug- 
gestions, but  the  final  instruction  must  come  from  the  commander. 

Two  years  after  his  family  had  settled  at  'Pittsburg,  Andrew  was  en- 
gaged as  a  messenger  in  the  Atlantic  and  Ohio  Telegraph  Company.  He 
asked  and  was  given  leave  to  practice  telegraphing  in  his  spare  moments, 
and,  having  learned  to  read  messages  by  sound,  was  soon  promoted  to  be 
an  operator.  About  this  time  his  father  died,  and  Andrew  became  the  sole 
support  of  his  mother  and  brother.  In  a  couple  of  years  he  had  devised 
a  scheme  which  enabled  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad  to  improve  the  regula- 
tion of  its  traffic  by  means  of  the  telegraph  and  to  materially  increase  its 
carrying  power.  He  now  entered  the  service  of  this  great  railroad  corpora- 
tion, and  before  he  was  of  age  had  risen  to  be  Superintendent  of  the  Pitts- 
burg division.  Prior  to  this  he  had  judiciously  invested  most  of  his  earnings 
in  a  company  formed  to  manufacture  the  WoodrulT  sleeping  car.  After 
some  other  successful  investments  IMr.  Carnegie  became  one  of  an  associa- 
tion which  gave  $40,000  for  the  Storey  farm,  on  Oil  Creek,  where  they 
struck  oil  and  netted  over  $1,000,000  in  one  year.  His  most  important 
venture  was  the  establishment  of  the  Edgar  Thompson  Steel  Works,  named 


'ANDREW.  CARNEGIE 

after  an  early  benefactor.  In  addition  to  this  the  Carnegie  companies  com- 
prise, or  lately  comprised,  the  Pittsburg  Bessemer  Steel  Works,  the  Lucy 
Furnaces,  the  Union  Iron  Mills,  the  Union  Mill,  the  Keystone  Bridge 
Works,  the  Hartman  Steel  Works,  the  Scotia  Ore  Mines  and  the  Frick  Coal 
Company.  It  is  to  be  noticed  that  the  investments  which  made  Mr.  Carnegie 
a  very  rich  man  were  confined  to  industrial  enterprises  whose  nature  and 
prospects  he  was  specially  qualified  to  understand. 

To  his  vivid  sense  of  the  beneficent  effect  of  education  his  bounteous 
gifts  to  libraries  are  mainly  due.  He  rightly  views  a  good  library  as  a  cheap 
university  for  persistent  and  ambitious  talent.  In  1880  he  gave  $40,000  to 
establish  a  free  library  at  Dunfermline.  In  1885  he  founded  another  free 
library  at  Pittsburg  at  a  cost  of  $500,000,  and  in  the  following  year  he 
presented  Edinburgh  with  $250,000  for  a  free  library  and  Allegheny  City 
with  an  equal  sum  for  a  music  hall  and  library  combined.  He  has  also 
established  several  smaller  libraries  and  built  halls  in  other  places,  both 
home  and  foreign. 

During  his  mother's  life  Andrew  Carnegie  proved  himself  a  tender  and 
true  son.  Perhaps  the  keenest  enjoyment  which  his  wealth  has  afforded 
him  has  been  found  in  its  enabling  him  to  anticipate  her  wants  and  wishes. 
He  made  a  resolution,  and  kept  it,  not  to  marry  while  she  lived.  He  was 
married  shortly  after  her  death  and  has  a  happy  home  in  New  York, 
and  one  little  miss  to  adorn  it.  This  greatest  little  girl  is  the  sole  heir  to  his 
fortune.  His  generosity  has  embraced  several  benevolent  institutions  and 
several  unsuccessful  friends.  Nor  does  he  try  to  forget  his  poor  days  any 
more  than  his  humble  acquaintances.  "It  does  not  hurt  the  new  comer  to 
sweep  out  the  office  if  necessary,"  he  told  the  students  of  the  Curry  Com- 
mercial College.  'T  was  one  of  those  sw^eepers  myself,  and  who  do  you 
suppose  were  my  fellow-sweepers?  David  McCargo,  now  Superintendent 
of  the  Allegheny  Valley  Railroad,  Robert  Pitcairn,  Superintendent  of  the 
Pennsylvania  Railroad,  and  Mr.  Moreland,  City  Attorney.  We  all  took 
turns,  two  each  morning  did  the  sweeping,  and  now  I  remember  Davie  was 
so  proud  of  his  clean  white  shirt-bosom  that  he  used  to  spread  over  it  an 
old  silk  bandana  handkerchief  which  he  kept  for  the  purpose,  and  we  other 
boys  thought  he  was  putting  on  airs.  So  he  was.  None  of  us  had  a  silk 
handkerchief." 

Mr.  Carnegie  is  a  genial  companion.  He  can  sing  a  good  song,  make 
a  good  occasional  speech,  and  tell  a  good  story.  Nor  does  he  either 
monopolize  the  conversation  or  else  sulk,  as  too  many  celebrities  are  prone 
to  do.  His  skill  in  driving  four-in-hands  is  well  known.  In  person  he  is 
rather  short,  but  strongly  made  and  active.     His  eyes,  which  are  blue,  are 


PENNSYLVANIA'S  IRON  KING. 

large  and  sympathetic.     Altogether,  he  is  a  man  to  inspire  children  with 
confidence. 

Besides  a  few  pamphlets  and  many  magazine  articles,  Mr.  Carnegie  is 
the  author  of  "An  American  Four-in-Hand  in  Britain"  (New  York,  1883); 
"Round  the  World"  (1884),  and  "Triumphant  Democracy;  or,  Fifty  Years' 
March  of  the  Republic"  (1887).  The  general  tendency  of  "Triumphant 
Democracy,"  his  most  important  work,  is  to  laud  American  methods,  in- 
dustrial, social  and  political;  to  decry  the  vaunted  British  constitution,  but 
at  the  same  time  to  inspire  Britons  and  Americans  with  mutual  esteem  and 
admiration.  Mr,  Carnegie  is  for  humanity  first,  and  secondly  for  the  great 
race  to  which  he  is  proud  to  belong.  With  him  democracy  is  the  evangel 
of  humanity.  It  promises  every  man  a  fair  field  and  no  favor.  Mr.  Carnegie 
is  revolted  at  the  mere  name  of  a  "subject."  In  his  enthusiasm  for  demo- 
cratic government  he  is  led  into  a  few  paradoxes,  which,  however,  he  defends 
with  great  ingenuity.  "Triumphant  Democracy"  teems  with  valuable  con- 
densed statistics  as  well  as  with  characteristic  anecdotes.  The  style  is  never 
heavy.  Sometimes  it  is  even  brilliant,  as  in  the  contrast  between  Lincoln 
and  Bismarck — terse,  epigrammatic,  true.  Amid  the  author's  prolonged 
paeans  upon  American  triumphs,  a  critic  found  his  admissions  quite  refresh- 
ing that  "no  civilized  people  ever  cooked  so  badly"  and  that  the  best  roads 
in  the  world  are  not  to  be  found  in  the  United  States.  Mr.  Carnegie  has 
his  grand  aspirations  for  a  friendly  union  or  alliance  of  the  English-speaking 
powers — America,  Britain,  and  independent  Australasia — dominating  the 
world  and  dictating  peace  to  the  too  heavily  armed  nations.  Anc'  he  has 
not  the  shadow  of  a  doubt  that  the  world-language  is  doetined  to  be  I'nglish. 


miLIP  D.  ARMOUR 

FOUNDER  OF  THE  MEAT  PACKING  INDUSTRY 

Wealth  is  not  acquired,  as  many  persons  suppose,  by  fortunate  speculations 
and  splendid  enterprises,  but  by   the  daily  practice  of    industry,    frugality,    and  • 

economy. 

— IVayland. 

"^  T  IS  the  combination  of  industry,  untiring  energy  and  philanthropy 
*  J       that  has  made  the  name  of  Philip  D.  Armour  not  only  so  potent  in  the 
'West  but  a  recognized  leader  among  the  merchants  of  the  world. 
His  name  in  commercial  circles  will  ever  be  a  tower  of  strength  for  with 
him  there  was  no  such  word  as  "fail."     He  is  revered  not  alone  for  phenom- 
enal business  genius,  but  for  the  sturdy,  manly  qualities  of  integrity,  simplic- 
ity  and   charity  which   ever  marked  him,   and   for  those  domestic  virtues 
which  made  his  home  life  ideal. 

Philip  D,  Armour  was  born  on  a  farm  ]\Iay  i6,  1832.  Habitual  frugal- 
ity and  industry  were  the  fundamental  principles  and  characteristic  features 
of  the  parents.  His  school  days  were  mostly  spent  in  the  local  red  school- 
house.  He  was,  however,  fortu- 
nate enough  to  attend  for  a  short 
time  the  neighboring  village  sem- 
inary. He  was  genial  to  a  degree, 
healthy,  resolute  and  strong;  he 
held  his  own  wherever  events 
found  him;  not  a  follower,  but  a 
leader,  of  his  schoolmates,  as  later 
events  were  bound  to  make  him 
among  his  fellow-men. 

During  the  winter  of  18 ^i 
and  1852  the  excitement  attend- 
ing the  gold  discovery  in  Cali- 
fornia having  spread  over  the 
country,  a  party  was  organized  to 
make  the  overland  trip.  IMr. 
Armour,  with  a  growing  desire  to 
get  out  into  the  world,  made  up 
one  of  the  party.    The  vicissitudes 


PHILIP  D.  ARMOUR. 


FOUNDER  OF  THE  MEAT  PACKING  INDUSTRY. 

of  his  early  experience  rather  tended  to  broaden  his  views  and  knit  together 
his  dominant  characteristics. 

In  1856  he  returned  to  the  East  and  visited  his  parents.  He  minutely 
laid  down  before  them  all  he  had  accomplished  during  his  absence.  To  a 
few  of  the  most  intimate  friends  of  the  family  the  father  whispered  the  fact 
of  the  young  man  having  brought  back  some  money  with  him.  After  remain- 
ing with  them  for  a  few  weeks,  he  once  more  turned  westward  and  finally 
located  in  Milwaukee,  where  he  formed  a  co-partnership  and  entered  the 
commission  business  with  Frederick  B.  Miles.  After  a  successful  run  they 
dissolved  in   1863. 

In  the  spring  of  the  same  year  there  occurred  what  later  years  proved 
the  forerunner  of  a  very  successful  business  engagement  in  the  joint  co-part- 
nership arrangement  between  Jno.  Plankinton  and  Philip  Armour.  Mr. 
Plankinton  was  ^Ir.  Armour's  senior,  and  had  been  a  resident  of  Milwaukee 
for  a  much  longer  period.  He  had  established  a  most  thriving  business,  which 
had  been  conducted  with  unerring  judgment.  This  was  Mr.  Armour's  oppor- 
tunity. How  well  he  handled  himself  and  the  business  that  fell  to  him,  the 
history  of  the  commercial  world  is  alone  our  witness. 

A  branch  was  soon  organized  in  Chicago  under  Joseph  Armour  and 
another  in  New^  York  under  the  charge  of  Herman  O.  Armour. 

In  1868,  while  they  still  continued  to  handle  grain,  they  commenced 
packing  hogs. 

It  became  evident  in  1871  that  the  stock  producing  power  of  the  coun- 
try w-as  migrating  westward  and  in  order  to  keep  abreast  of  the  times  they 
established  a  branch  at  Kansas  City.  This  enterprise  was  under  the  imme- 
diate supervision  of  Mr.  Simeon  B.  Armour,  an  elder  brother.  The  failing 
health  of  Joseph  at  Chicago  necessitated  assistance,  and  Milwaukee,  as  we 
have  already  seen,  had  brains  to  spare;  consequently  Philip  moved  to 
Chicago  in  1875,  where  he  has  since  resided. 

It  is  impossible  to  convey  to  one  not  familiar  with  the  scope  of  the 
business  its  magnitude.  The  distributive  sales  of  the  Chicago  house  alone 
are  in  excess  of  the  gross  receipts  of  any  railroad  corporation  of  the  Avorld. 
Even  in  a  business  of  these  dimensions  there  was  nothing  too  great  for  Mr. 
Armour  to  handle,  nothing  so  small  that  he  could  overlook. 

At  the  earnest  solicitation  of  the  late  Alex.  Mitchell,  he  became  one  of 
the  directory  of  the  St.  Paul  Railway.  This  was  the  only  office  he  ever 
held.  Political  preferment  was  not  the  bent  of  his  mind  or  his  ambition.  He 
was  never  known  to  occupy  a  public  office. 

Mr.  Armour  was  married  to  Belle  Ogden,  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  in  October, 
1862.    In  making  mention  of  this  circumstance,  it  must  occur  to  anyone  who 


PHILIP  D.  ARMOUR 


has  been  fortunate  enough  to  have  been  at  all  intimate  with  the  family  his- 
tory, that  their  home  life  has  been  singularly  happy.  Domestic  economy  was 
no  more  truly  one  of  the  hearthstones  of  Mr,  Armour's  inheritance  than  it 
was  of  Mrs.  Armour's.  They  were  blessed  with  two  sons,  Jonathan  Ogden 
and  Philip  D.,  who  were  active  partners  with  their  father  until  the  death 
of  the  former,  in  1899,  when  the  balance  of  responsibilities  fell  upon  the 
shoulders  of  the  elder.    Both  were  millionaires. 

Philip  D.  Armour,  in  1892,  founded  the  Armour  Mission  and  Armour 
Institute  of  Technology,  and  has  given  to  it  over  $2,500,000.  Under  the 
supervision  of  its  first  president,  Dr.  Frank  W.  Gunsaulus,  it  grew  to  be  one 
of  the  foremost  institutions  of  learning  in  the  West,  and  deserves  the  popu- 
larity it  has  so  richly  secured. 

Mr.  Armour  died  January  6,  1901,  at  his  home  in  Chicago.  The  end 
came  painlessly  and  peacefully  with  his  loved  ones  around  him.  Before  his 
death  he  expressed  the  wish  that  his  funeral  be  a  simple  one  and  so  he 
was  laid  at  rest  in  Graceland  Cemetery  as  he  had  lived,  without  pomp  or 
display. 


ARMOVR  INSTITUTE. 


JOHN  WANAMAKER 

THE  SUCCESSFUL  MAN  OF  BUSINESS 

Thinking,  trying,  toiling  and  trusting  is  all  of  my  biography. 

—  Wananiaker. 

-OHN  WANAMAKER  was  the  eldest  of  seven  children.  His 
father  was  in  poor  circumstances  and  could  give  him  few 
advantages  except  plenty  of  opportunity  for  self-help  and 
self-reliance.  He  attended  the  public  schools  of  Philadelphia 
until  he  was  fourteen  years  old.  For  the  public  school  system  of 
America,  unlike  that  of  any  other  country  on  the  globe,  gives  its 
privileges  to  rich  and  poor  alike.  I  wonder  how  many  young  people 
think  how  much  that  means  when  they  are  tired  of  school  and  wish 
vacation  would  hurry  and  come.  There  are  very  few  of  our  noted 
men  or  women  who  have  not  owed  the  foundation  of  their  education 
to  the  American  system  of  free  schools. 

John  Wanamaker  was  born  in  Philadelphia,  July  ii,  1837.  His 
father  was  descended  from  German  ancestors,  who  were  driven  from 
their  native  land  by  religious  persecutions.  His  mother  was  a 
descendant  of  the  French  Huguenots. 

John  Wanamaker  inherited  good  health,  good  habits  and  thrifty 
ways  from  both  parents  and  from  a  long  line  of  ancestors.  And  in 
the  last  of  the  three  gifts  at  least,  he  improved  on  his  inheritance,  as 
it  is  the  business  of  every  boy  and  girl  who  comes  into  the  world  to 
do  in  some  respects.  His  attendance  at  school  was  not  very  regular, 
for  he  was  often  needed  to  assist  his  mother  in  household  duties  and 
in  the  care  of  his  younger  brothers  and  sisters,  and  he  sometimes 
worked  in  his  father's  brickyard,  where  he  could  earn  two  cents  in  the 
morning  before  going  to  school  by  turning  five  hundred  bricks. 

When  he  was  fourteen  years  old,  he  left  school  and  engaged  to 
work  as  errand  boy  in  a  store  on  Market  street,  at  a  salary  of  a  dollar 


rOHN  IVANAMAKER 

and  a  half  a  week.  He  is  remembered  by  a  number  of  people  who 
knew  him  at  this  time.  There  seems  to  have  been  nothing  remark- 
able about  him  except  that  he  was  faithful  in  his  work  and  always 
pleasant  and  obliging.  He  was  always  one  of  the  first  at  the  store 
in  the  morning  and  among  the  last  at  night.  He  looked  after  his 
employer's  interest  as  he  would  after  his  own  and  was  never  afraid  of 
making  too  long  a  day  or  working  a  little  longer  than  he  was  paid  for. 
Very  naturally  such  a  boy  gained  the  confidence  of  his  employers 
and  was  promoted  as  fast  as  there  were  places  above  him  to  be  filled. 
From  messenger  boy  he  rose  rapidly,  first  to  the  position  of  stock 
boy,  then  of  entry  clerk,  and  at  length  became  salesman  in  the 
largest  clothing  house  in  the  city.  He  was  so  agreeable  and  obliging 
as  a  salesman  that  customers  would  frequently  inquire  for  him  and 
object  to  being  waited  upon  by  any  one  else. 

But  he  found  time  for  other  interests  than  those  of  his  business. 
He  was  an  active  member  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association 
of  Philadelphia,  and  in  1857  he  was  made  its  first  paid  secretary, 
with  a  salary  of  a  thousand  dollars  a  year.  He  held  this  position  for 
several  years  and  filled  it  to  the  satisfaction  of  most  of  the 
members. 

During  the  years  of  his  secretaryship  he  saved  two  thousand 
dollars.  With  this  as  capital  he  entered  into  a  business  partnership 
with  his  brother-in-law  and  started  a  clothing  store.  This  was  in 
1 86 1,  the  very  day  that  Fort  Sumter  was  fired  upon. 

His  first  business  move  was  a  daring  one.  He  selected  the  very 
best  salesman  he  could  find  in  Philadelphia  and  engaged  to  pay  him  a 
salary  of  $1,350  a  year,  one-third  as  much  as  the  entire  capita.1  of  the 
firm.  It  seemed  a  great  piece  of  extravagance  in  view  of  the  other 
expenses  to  be  met.  But  it  soon  justified  itself,  for  the  new  salesman 
was  known  in  New  York  and  his  association  with  the  firm  brought  it 
honor  and  credit.  It  is  said  that  Mr.  Wanamaker  himself  delivered 
the  first  goods  sold  by  the  firm  in  a  wheelbarrow  and  spent  the  money 
on  his  way  back  in  an  advertisement  in  the  Inquirer.  He  believed 
in  himself  and  was  not  afraid  to  venture.  His  habits  were  always 
good.  He  never  uses  liquor  or  tobacco  in  any  form,  and  never 
attends  a  horse  race.  His  employes  remarked  that  he  used  often  to 
be  seen  gathering  up  pieces  of  string  and  tying  them  together  to  be 


THE  SUCCESSFUL  MAN  OF  BUSINESS. 

used  for  tying  parcels.  He  also  saved  the  newspapers  to  be  used  for 
wrapping  paper.  Such  economies  would  be  quite  beneath  the  dignity 
of  many  an  elegant  young  man  who  thought  himself  rich  enough  to 
spend  all  of  his  salary  as  fast  as  he  earned  it,  but  the  man  who  was 
going  to  be  a  millionaire  was  not  ashamed  of  small  economies.  He 
always  took  a  deep  interest  in  his  employes,  and  more  than  one  poor 
young  man  has  had  Mr.  Wanamaker  to  thank  for  the  kind  word  or 
act  that  gave  him  added  courage  for  the  struggle  of  life. 

Mr.  Wanamaker  was  very  original  in  his  ways  of  advertising  and 
anticipated  many  of  the  more  modern  methods.  He  put  up  enormous 
signs,  sometimes  a  hundred  feet  long,  on  fences  built  for  the  purpose, 
and  he  sent  immense  balloons  out  into  the  country  with  the  name 
' '  Wanamaker  and  Brown  "  painted  on  them  in  large  letters.  All  this 
was  ingenious  and  daring  and  showed  remarkable  talent  and  enterprise 
in  so  young  a  man. 

As  every  one  knows,  there  are  enormous  amounts  of  money 
spent  every  year  in  advertising,  enough,  doubtless,  to  pay  off  the 
national  debt  in  a  few  years  and  build  comfortable  homes  for  all  the 
orphans  in  the  country.  It  seems  to  be  necessary  to  one  who  would 
hold  his  own  in  trade,  as  things  are  now,  but  it  is  an  enormous  waste 
and  it  may  be  hoped  that  the  next  century  will  find  some  more 
economical  system  of  bringing  together  the  buyer  and  the  goods  he 
needs,  a  system  which  will  not  eat  up  so  large  a  portion  of  the  profits 
and  waste  so  much  labor  and  money.  If,  for  example,  a  man  who 
makes  hammers  were  to  spend  more  time  and  money  in  finding  out 
how  to  make  the  very  best  hammer  that  could  be  made,  and  less  in 
spreading  the  news  about  it,  then  that  part  of  the  world  that  wanted 
hammers  would  after  a  while  hear  of  this  excellent  hammer-maker 
— for  everybody  likes  to  speak  of  persons  and  things  that  have  served 
him  well — and  would  soon  build  a  railroad  to  his  door  and  buy  his 
hammers  by  the  carload.  But  that  time  is  not  yet  come,  and  we 
must  possess  our  souls  in  patience,  and  in  the  meantime  buy  our 
hammers  of  the  most  ingenious  advertiser. 

But  Mr.  Wanamaker  not  only  made  innovations  in  ways  of  adver- 
tising, but  in  several  instances  he  set  a  new  example  of  honesty  for 
business  men.  The  new  ways  were  found  to  work  well,  and  some  of 
them  have  become  the  rule  among  the  best  business  houses  in  this 


JOHN  WANAMAKER 

country.  It  was  customary  in  those  days  to  mark  the  prices  of  goods 
in  such  a  way  that  the  customer  could  not  read  the  mark,  and  the 
salesman  was  expected  to  get  the  highest  price  he  could,  studying  his 
customer  and  gauging  the  price  asked  by  the  apparent  possibilities  of 
the  case.  Mr.  Wanamaker  instituted  the  plan  of  "but  one  price 
and  that  plainly  marked. "  Business  men  thought  he  was  crazy,  and 
said  his  business  would  go  to  pieces,  but  now  everybody  admits  that 
the  ' '  one  price  "  plan  is  not  only  right  but  practical,  as  all  right 
ways  will  be  proved  to  be  sometime,  when  the  world  is  old  enough  to 
be  wiser. 

When  he  entered  his  new  store  in  1877,  he  went  still  further  in 
announcing  new  principles.  At  that  time,  most  merchants  considered 
that  ' '  a  sale  was  a  sale, "  and  they  would  not  often  allow  goods  to  be 
returned.  If  a  customer  had  made  a  foolish  or  unsatisfactory  pur- 
chase, he  had  only  himself  to  blame  and  must  take  the  consequences. 
But  Mr.  Wanamaker  announced  the  principle  that  "those  who 
bought  goods  of  him  were  to  be  satisfied  with  what  they  bought,  or 
have  their  money  back. "  This  worked  well  too,  for  people  were  more 
willing  to  buy  of  a  house  that  would  give  them  fair  treatment.  Most 
of  the  business  men  in  Philadelphia  declared  that  a  merchant  could 
not  keep  business  going  on  such  terms.  But  Wanamaker  and  Com- 
pany proved  that  they  could,  and  at  the  same  time  could  make  more 
money  than  any  of  their  competitors.  Again,  Mr.  Wanamaker 
required  his  employes  to  make  visitors  welcome  whether  they  came 
to  buy  or  only  to  look,  or  even  only  to  meet  their  friends.  This  was 
smiled  at  for  a  while  and  called  the  ' '  Wanamaker  way, "  but  now  it 
has  become  everybody's  way,  at  least  among  the  better  class  of  trades- 
people. And  like  all  courteous  ways,  it  has  been  found  to  be  the 
successful  way.  Mr.  Wanamaker  often  made  sales  to  country  people 
when  his  salesmen  failed,  because  he  was  not  too  proud  to  treat  them 
in  a  friendly  way.  He  put  them  at  their  ease  and  made  them  com- 
fortable and  they  were  generally  glad  to  come  again. 

And  still  with  all  his  rapidly  increasing  business  he  found  time 
for  Sunday-school  work  and  the  affairs  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian 
Association.  He  established  a  Sunday-school  in  one  of  the  poorer 
parts  of  the  city  and  built  it  up  until  it  had  about  three  thousand 
pupils  and  was  one  of  the  largest  Sunday-schools  in  the  world. 


THE  SUCCESSFUL  MAN  OF  BUSINESS. 

In  1875  he  bought  the  immense  building  which  had  been  known 
as  the  Pennsylvania  railroad  freight  depot  at  Thirteenth  and  Market 
streets,  Philadelphia,  and  made  it  over  into  a  tabernacle  for  the 
use  of  Mr.  Moody  during  the  winter  of  1875  and  6.  It  was  large 
enough  to  hold  twenty  thousand  people  and  was  often  crowded.  The 
.lext  year  he  had  it  remodeled  into  a  bazaar  for  the  sale  of  men's  and 
boys'  clothing. 

Mr.  Wanamaker,  like  Mr.  Edison,  has  a  remarkable  power  of 
working  for  a  long  time  without  sleep,  though,  unlike  Edison,  he 
usually  makes  it  up  by  a  long  rest  afterwards.  He  preserves  his 
strength  by  his  calmness,  wasting  little  in  worry  or  excitement.  This 
may  have  been  in  some  degree  a  natural  power  with  him,  but  like  all 
kinds  of  mental  power,  it  can  be  cultivated.  The  mind  can  be  con- 
trolled, like  steam  and  electricity,  and,  like  those  forces,  it  is  only 
safe  and  serviceable  when  it  is  harnessed.  It  is  said  that  Mr.  Wan- 
amaker has  a  remarkable  power  of  concentrating  the  mind  upon 
one  thing  at  a  time,  so  that  his  many  and  various  business  cares  and 
responsibihties  seldom  interfere  with  one  another.  When  he  is 
engaged  upon  one  question  it  is  as  if  he  had  not  another  problem  in 
the  world. 

Mr.  Wanamaker  has  always  been  active  in  philanthropic  and 
other  public  movements,  as  a  man  of  his  wealth  and  position  should 
be.  He  gave  effective  service  in  collecting  for  the  starving  in  the  terri- 
ble Irish  famine.  He  has  been  at  different  times  chairman  of  a 
number  of  committees  for  the  relief  of  towns  which  had  suffered  from 
fire.  He  held  a  high  position  on  the  finance  committee  of  the  Centen- 
nial Exposition  at  Philadelphia  in  1876.  And  in  1886  he  was  prom- 
inent in  a  movement  to  secure  a  better  water  supply  for  his 
native  city. 

During  the  last  few  years  he  has  been  more  or  less  prominent  in 
politics.  In  1882  he  was  urged  to  accept  the  Republican  nomination 
for  Congress,  but  he  declined  it  and  four  years  later  he  refused  the 
nomination  for  Mayor  of  Philadelphia  on  the  independent  ticket.  He 
took  a  prominent  part  in  the  presidential  campaign  of  1888  and  was 
rewarded  for  his  services  by  the  ofhce  of  Postmaster-General,  given 
him  by  President  Harrison.  He  was  active  and  alert  in  fulfilling  the 
duties  of  that  office  and  instituted  several  reforms  in  its  management. 


JOHN  WANAMAKER 

Among  other  improvements  he  provided  a  more  rapid  transmission  of 
the  mails  in  some  regions  by  spurring  up  the  railroad  companies  to 
higher  speed.  He  established  a  system  by  which  foreign  mail  is  dis- 
tributed on  shipboard  and  is  ready  for  instant  forwarding  upon  arrival 
in  port.  He  predicted  that  "  one-cent  letter  postage,  three-cent  tel- 
ephone messages,  and  ten-cent  telegraph  messages"  were  possibilities 
of  the  near  future.  He  favored  the  establishment  of  a  postal  tele- 
graph service,  and  he  did  much  to  clear  the  mails  of  printed  matter 
pertaining  to  lotteries  as  well  as  other  injurious  and  immoral  publica- 
tions. He  was  ridiculed  in  some  quarters  for  this  work  and  called 
the  "Sunday-school  Postmaster-General."  If  this  is  what  Sunday- 
school  service  would  do  for  the  country,  it  is  a  pity  we  have  not  more 
of  it  engaged  in  the  service  of  the  Government. 

When  Mr.  Wanamaker  received  his  first  month's  salary  as  Post- 
master-General, he  said,  ' '  This  is  the  first  salary  I  have  earned  in 
twenty-five  years.  I  do  not  know  what  I  shall  do  with  it. "  To 
appreciate  this  remark  one  needs  to  know  the  fact  that  it  is  very  easy 
for  the  Postmaster-General  to  use  the  salary  of  his  office  many  times 
over  in  sustaining  the  office  and  meeting  the  many  appeals  which 
reach  it,  and  that  Mr.  Wanamaker  actually  spent  more  than  his 
salary  for  the  entire  time  in  keeping  up  its  expenses. 

Mr.  Wanamaker  was* once  asked  where  he  got  his  education  and 
his  reply  was  characteristic:  "I  picked  it  up  as  I  went,"  he  said,  "  as 
the  tenders  on  the  railroad  take  up  the  water  from  their  track  tanks. " 
And  when  asked  for  material  for  a  biography,  he  wrote  in  response 
the  sentence  I  have  coupled  with  his  name  at  the  beginning  of  this 
sketch :    ' '  Thinking,  trying,  toiling  and  trusting  is  all  of  my  biography. " 


HELEN  MILLER  GOULD 


THE   FRIEND   OF   THE   NEEDY 


"It  is  the  duty  of  women  who  have  wealth  to  help  others,  especially  other 
women,  and  to  make  life  for  them  worth  the  living." 

Helen  Gould. 


E  BELIEVE  it  is 
safe  to  say  that 
one  of  the  most  tmiver- 
sally  loved  American 
women  to-day  is  Helen 
Gould,  daughter  of  the 
late  Jay  Gould,  and  most 
youthful  philanthropist  of 
the  world.  Helen  Gould, 
unlike  many  of  the  great 
women  of  the  world,  was 
born  v,ith  a  golden  spoon 
in  her  mouth.  She  was 
cradled  in  the  lap  of  lux- 
ury, while  wealth  and  af- 
fluence met  her  at  every 
hand.  Her  father,  one  of 
the  leading  financiers  of 
New  York,  spared  no 
pains  in  seeing  that  she, 
with  his  other  four  chil- 
dren, were  well  educated. 
Helen  received  her  in- 
structions from  private 
tutors,  and  finished  with 
a  course  of  law  at  the  New 


HELEN  MILLER  GOULD. 


'      ■  nniEN  MILLER   GOULD 

York  Law  University,  in  order  to  better  fit  her  for  the  details  of 
business.  During  the  latter  years  of  her  father's  life  she  acted 
as  his  amanuensis,  and  since  his  death  has  personally  managed  her 
inherited  fortune  of  about  $20,000,000.  The  mother  died  when  Helen 
was  twenty-one  years  of  age,  and  the  father  when  she  was  twenty- 
four.  During  the  winter  she  resides  in  the  family  home  on  Fifth  avenue, 
which  she  retained  possession  of  at  her  father's  death.  Here  she  spends 
much  of  her  time  looking  after  the  welfare  of  the  sick,  helping  the 
needy  and  founding  homes  for  helpless  and  orphans.  Her  summers  are 
spent  at  Irvington-on-the-Hudson,  the  country  home  purchased  by  her 
father  and  mother.  Here  also  she  goes  about  doing  good.  First  among 
her  public  gifts  m.ay  be  mentioned  that  of  $150,000  for  a  Presbyterian  Church 
as  a  memorial  to  her  father  on  the  site  of  his  birthplace  home  in  Roxbury, 
N.  Y.  She  has  given  altogether  the  sum  of  $320,000  to  the  University  of 
the  City  of  New  York,  also  two  scholarships  in  the  University  of  New  York 
endowed  with  $5,000  each;  a  gift  to  the  St.  Louis  cyclone  sufferers  of  $100,- 
000;  a  gift  to  Vassar  College  of  $8,000;  $100,000  to  the  United  States  Gov- 
ernment for  war  purposes  in  1898,  and  $25,000  for  the  relief  of  soldiers 
at  Camp  Wycoff,  Long  Island;  $10,000  to  Rutgers  College;  and  so 
far  in  1900  she  has  given  the  sum  of  $50,000  to  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  Brooklyn, 
N.  Y.;  also  a  home,  Woody  Crest,  for  crippled  children,  maintaining  it  her- 
self, and  not  one  hour  passed  after  she  heard  of  the  devastation  in 
Texas  before  an  army  supply  house  were  putting  up  her  orders  for  50,000 
rations  for  the  stricken  sufferers.  That  is  the  kind  of  religion  that  makes 
glad  the  heart  of  man. 

By  nature  Miss  Gould  is  modest  in  the  extreme.  She  avoids  publicity 
or  even  mention  in  the  papers.  She  recently  dismissed  a  valuable  secretary 
because  she  had  ready  for  the  press  a  list  of  the  requests  made  of  her  for 
alms.  She  never  permits  snapshots  to  be  taken  of  her,  and  when  out  sight- 
seeing, if  there  are  "kodak  fiends"  in  sight,  she  takes  precaution  to  defend 
herself.  She  is  always  unostentatious  in  dress,  and  with  her  characteristic 
goodness  of  heart  she  soon  becomes  the  friend  of  the  poor  as  well  as  the 
rich.  She  declines  invitations  and  seldom  or  never  gives  fetes.  She  is  in- 
deed one  of  the  most  independent  and  generous-hearted  young  women  of  the 
world.  This  is  perhaps  more  notable  because  of  the  fact  that  her  ancestors 
were  people  noted  for  closeness  rather  than  generosity.  .May  she  live  long 
and  continue  the  good  work  so  beautifully  begun. 


GENERAL     ULYSSES    S.    GRANT. 


ULYSSES    S.   GRANT 


THE  MAN  OF  SILENCE. 


So  when  a  great  man  dies, 

For  years  beyond  our  ken, 
The  hght  he  leaves  behind  him  lies 

Upon  the  paths  of  men. 

— Longfellow. 

"LYSSES  S.  GRANT  was  an  Amer-  ^       - 

ican  of  the  eighth 

generation. 

His  ances- 
tor, Matthew  Grant,  came 
from  Dorchester,  England, 
in    1630,    and     settled    in 
Dorchester,  Massachusetts. 
The    military    training    of 
Ulysses    began     wjth     his 
great     grandfather,     Noah 
Grant,     who,    with     his 
younger  brother,  was  an 
English    officer    in    the  "^ 
French    and    Indian    war.  '^; 
Neither    of     the     brothers 
lived  to  see  the  victory  of 
Wolfe  at  Quebec.     His  grand- 
father served  in  the  War  of 
olution  from  Bunker  Hill  to  Yorktown.    In 
his  father,  Jesse  Grant,  the  martial  spirit 
rested  for  a  generation,  except  as  it  found 
exercise  in  the  rural  debating  society  and 
in  the  political  discussions  of  his  times.     Jesse  Grant  married  Hannah 
Simpson  in  182 1.     Of  her  ancestry  little  is  known,  except  that  they 


grant's   BIRTHPI.ACE. 


ULYSSES  S.   GRANT 

had  lived  in  Pennsylvania  for  several  generations.  The  Grant  family 
were  strong  Whigs  and  thought  the  only  salvation  of  the  nation  lay 
in  Whig  principles.  The  Simpsons  were  Democrats,  and  believed 
the  country  ruined  beyond  hope  when  the  Democrats  went  out  of 
office  in  i860. 

Ulysses  was  born  at  Point  Pleasant,  Ohio,  in  1822.  Being  the 
first  child,  the  naming  was  considered  a  matter  of  great  importance, 
and  all  the  relatives  were  finally  called  in  to  take  part  in  the  choice. 
Ulysses  was  the  preference  of  the  father,  who,  although  his  opportu- 
nities for  education  had  been  extremely  limited,  had  yet  read  enough 
into  the  classics  to  desire  a  classic  name  for  the  boy  who  the  fond 
parents  little  dreamed  —  rash  statement,  for  who  may  guess  the 
visions  that  flood  a  mother's  heart? — would  live  to  add  honor  and 
renown  to  the  noblest  name  that  could  be  chosen.  Th^  matter  was 
finally  decided  by  ballot,  after  which  ' '  Hiram  '  was  prefixed  to  soothe 
the  grandfather,  who  was  wounded  at  the  adoption  of  the  heathen 
name,  but  said  nothi7ig,  conquering  by  silence,  like  the  great  silent 
soldier,  whose  life  was  then  just  beginning.  But  "  Hiram  "  was  a 
name  which  would  not  stick  to  him,  as  we  shall  see  later  on. 

The  next  year  the  family  removed  to  Georgetown,  Ohio, 
which  remained  the  home  of  Ulysses  during  all  his  boyhood.  His 
father  was  anxious  that  he  should  be  educated  and  he  attended 
school  regularly,  but  the  school  of  those  days  had  not  much  to 
give  to  a  wide-awake  boy.  The  schoolmaster  carried  a  long  beech 
switch  in  his  hand,  not  for  symbolic  purposes,  but  for  switching,  as 
the  future  President  learned,  to  his  discomfort.  He  also  learned  to 
say,  ' '  A  noun  is  the  name  of  a  thing, "  which  he  repeated,  he  says  in 
his  ' '  Memoirs, "  until  he  had  come  to  believe  it.  Two  winters  he 
spent  at  school  away  from  home,  one  in  Maysville,  Kentucky,  the 
other  at  Ripley,  Ohio.  At  both  of  these  schools  he  ' '  ciphered 
through  "  the  same  old  arithmetic  which  he  had  worn  out  in  George- 
town, whose  rules  he  knew  by  heart  and  whose  problems  he  had 
solved  so  many  times  that  he  remembered  the  figures  from  one  end 
to  the  other  and  backwards.  Here,  too,  he  reviewed  the  interesting 
fact  that  "a  noun  is  the  name  of  a  thing."  And  that  was  about  as 
far  as  his  schoolbooks  carried  him  until  he  began  to  prepare  for  his 
examination  at  West  Point. 


THE  MAN  OF  SILENCE. 


But  if  our  young  friend  did  not  find  great  profit  in  the  instruc- 
tion given  by  the  somewhat  crude  teachers  of  his  day,  his  education 
outside  the  schoolroom  walls  went  on  at  a  rapid  rate.  His  father  had 
a  tannery  and  a  farm.  Ulysses  disliked  the  tannery  but  liked  to  ram- 
ble about  the  farm.  He  was  always  fond  of  horses,  and,  at  the  age 
of  five  or  six,  began  to  ride  and  handle  them  fearlessly.  At  seven  or 
eight,  he  began  to  haul  the  wood  for  use  in  the  house  and  tannery. 

Some  won- 
derful stories  are 
told  of  his  bare- 
back riding  and 
other  feats  of 
horsemanship 
about  this  time. 
At  eleven,  he  be- 
gan to  plow. 
After  that,  as 
long  as  he  lived 
at  home,  he  was 
generally  busy 
most  of  the  time 
about  the  farm, 
except  when  in 
school.  He  ad- 
mits that  he  did 
not  like  to  work 
in  those  days, 
but,  judging 
from  all  reports, 
he  accomplished 

what  was  given  him  to  do  as  faithfully  as  if  it  had  been  his  one  desire. 
He  was  never  punished  or  scolded  at  home  and  was  allowed  more 
freedom  than  was  usually  given  to  boys  of  his  age.  He  had  plenty 
of  boyish  sports,  such  as  fishing,  swimming  and  riding.  He  seems 
to  have  been  trusted  to  make  bargains  and  do  business  to  an  extent 
surprising  to  people  who  had  not  found  out  that  what  a  boy  needs  is 
to  be  trusted  and  that  giving  him  responsibihties  is  one  of  the  best 


GRANT  PLOWING  AT  THE  AGE  OF  ELEVEN  YEARS. 


ULYSSES  S.  GRANT 

ways  to  make  a  man  of  him.  An  amusing  story  is  told  of  one  of 
his  first  business  ventures.  When  he  was  about  eight  years  old  he 
begged  his  father  to  allow  him  to  go  to  a  neighbor's  and  buy  a  colt 
which  he  very  much   admired.      His  father  consented,    telling  him 


GRANT   BREAKING   A   HORSE. 


that  the  colt  was  not  worth  more  than  twenty  dollars,  and  bidding 
him  offer  that  sum  at  first,  afterwards  increasing  the  price  to  twenty- 
five  dollars  if  he  found  it  necessary.  Arriving  at  the  neighbor's 
house  he  jumped  at  once    into  the  business,   without  preliminaries 


THE  MAN  OF  SILENCE. 

'  -'Papa  says,"  remarked  the  future  President,  "that  I  may  offer  you 
twenty  dollars  for  the  colt,  but  if  you  won't  take  that,  I  am  to  offer 
twenty-two  and  a  half,  and  if  you  won't  take  that,  to  give  you  twenty- 
five.  "  Strange  as  it  may  seem,  his  customer  preferred  the  last-men- 
tioned price.  General  Grant  says  in  his  ' '  Memoirs  "  that  the  story 
is  nearly  true.  I  do  not  repeat  it  as  a  proof  of  any  unusual  talent 
in  the  embryo  President.  I  once  knew  a  very  ordinary  boy  who  went 
about  making  a  trade  in  a  precisely  similar  manner,  with  exactly 
similar  results,  so  far  as  the  trade  was  concerned.  But  his  hair  is 
turning  gray  and  he  is  not  President  yet. 

When  Ulysses  had  reached  the  age  of  seventeen,  his  father 
obtained  an  appointment  for  him  at  the  United  States  Military 
Academy  at  West  Point.  This  was  a  fine  opportunity,  for,  although 
Jesse  Grant  was  at  that  time  in  fairly  good  circumstances  for  a 
Western  farmer,  he  had  five  other  children  and  could  not  pay  college 
bills  for  all  of  them.  The  West  Point  cadetship  provided  for  all 
expenses.  When  Mr.  Grant  told  his  son  of  the  prospect,  Ulysses 
replied,  "But  I  won't  go."  "I  think  you  will, "  said  the  father. 
And  he  went.  He  had  little  enthusiasm  for  the  academy,  but  he 
confides  to  us  in  his  ' '  Memoirs  "  that  he  was  greatly  attracted  by  the 
opportunity  of  going  East  and  seeing  such  cities  as  New  York  and 
Philadelphia. 

The  news  of  his  appointment  made  a  great  stir  when  it  was 
scattered  among  the  thousand  inhabitants  of  Georgetown.  It  is  said 
that  a  neighbor  met  Mr.  Grant  in  the  street  one  day  and  remarked, 
"I  hear  Ulysses  is  appointed  to  West  Point.  Is  that  so?"  "Yes, 
sir."  "Well,  that's  a  nice  job,"  commented  the  polite  but  candid 
neighbor.  ' '  Why  didn't  they  appoint  a  boy  that  would  be  a  credit 
to  the  district?" 

He  spent  a  few  weeks  in  studying  for  his  examinations,  and  then 
started  on  what  seemed  to  him  a  long  journey.  At  his  own  home, 
whatever  emotion  may  have  been  felt  on  his  departure  was  sternly 
repressed.  When  a  neighbor  wept  as  she  kissed  him  good-by,  he 
exclaimed  in  surprise,  ' '  Why,  Mrs.  Bailey,  my  own  mother  didn't 
cry!" 

And  now  came  the  first  change  in  his  name.  His  initials  spelled 
"hug,"  as  he  had  frequently  been  reminded  by  mischief-loving  boys. 


ULYSSES  S.   GRANT 


When  his  new  trunk  came  home  marked  with  the  offensive  combina- 
tion, he  said,  "I  won't  have  it  so.  It  spells  *hug,'  and  the  boys 
would  plague  me."  He  changed  the  order  of  the  names  and  left 
home  as  Ulysses  Hiram  Grant.  But  that  was  not  the  last  time  his 
name  was  to  be  changed. 

He  had  about  a  hundred  dollars  of  his  own  earnings.  Forty- 
eight  dollars  of  this  would  be  needed  to  deposit  at  West  Point  for  his 
homeward   trip   lest   he  should   fail  to  pass  his   examinations.      He 


WEST    POINT. 

went  by  steamer  to  Pittsburg,  enjoying  keenly  the  trequv^uc  delays  by 
the  way,  and  from  Harrisburg  to  Philadelphia  by  railroad,  the  first 
he  had  ever  seen  if  we  except  the  one  over  which  he  had  passed  the 
crest  of  the  Alleghanies.  For  the  rest  of  the  journey  he  may  tell  his 
own  story:  "  In  traveling  by  the  road  from  Harrisburg,  I  thought 
the  perfection  of  rapid  transit  had  been  reached.  We  traveled  at 
least  eighteen  miles  an  hour,  when  at  full  speed,  and  made  the  whole 
distance  averaging  probably  as  much  as  twelve  miles  an  hour.  This 
seemed  like  annihilating  space.     I  stopped  five  days  in  Philadelphia, 


THE  MAN  OF  SILENCE. 

saw  about  every  street  in  the  city,  attended  the  theatre,  visited 
Girard  College  (which  was  then  in  course  of  construction),  and  got 
reprimanded  from  home  afterwards  for  dallying  by  the  way  so  long. 
My  sojourn  in  New  York  was  shorter,  but  long  enough  to  enable  me 
to  see  the  city  very  well.  I  reported  at  West  Point  on  the  30th  or 
31st  of  May,  and  about  two  weeks  later  passed  my  examinations  for 
admission,  without  difficulty,  very  much  to  my  surprise." 

Then  came  the  second  change  in  name.  The  Ohio  Representa- 
tive who  had  given  him  his  appointment  had  made  the  mistake  of 
supposing  that  his  middle  name  was  Simpson,  and  had  so  written  it  in 
the  official  record.  He  was  accordingly  faced  at  West  Point  by  the 
new  name,  Ulysses  Simpson  Grant.  It  was  impossible  to  change  it 
and  he  was  henceforth  known  by  the  name  given  him  by  the 
United  States. 

And  now  the  young  cadet  plunged  into  the  new,  strange  life  at 
West  Point.  The  first  and  most  necessary  thing  to  do  was  to  study 
the  *  *  Book  of  Regulations, "  for  there  are  rules  enough  at  West  Point 
to  control  an  army.  There  were  ' '  marks  of  demerit,  "or  *  *  black 
marks,"  for  every  offense,  thinkable  or  unthinkable,  but  also  not 
uncommittable,  and  two  hundred  marks  a  year  meant  dismissal. 
'  *  To  show  how  easy  one  can  get  these, "  wrote  Ulysses  in  one  of  his 
first  letters  to  a  cousin  at  home,  ' '  a  man  by  the  name  of  Grant,  of 
this  state,  got  eight  of  these  marks  for  not  going  to  church.  He  was 
also  put  under  arrest,  so  he  cannot  leave  his  room,  perhaps  for  a 
month,  all  this  for  not  going  to  church. " 

His  studies  the  first  year  were  algebra,  higher  mathematics  and 
French.  He  was  good  in  mathematics,  never  more  than  moderately 
good  in  language,  and  never  quite  reaching  either  end  of  the  class  in 
anything,  although  he  once  wrote  of  his  work  in  French,  ' '  If  the 
class  had  been  turned  around,  I  should  have  been  near  the  head." 
James  Longstreet,  a  fellow-student  who  afterwards  became  General 
Longstreet  and  fought  on  the  other  side  in  our  Civil  War,  testified  of 
Grant:  "  I  never  heard  him  utter  a  profane  or  vulgar  word.  He  was 
a  boy  of  good  native  ability,  though  by  no  means  a  hard  student. " 

Evidently  he  was  no  prig.  He  seems  to  have  been  as  ready  for 
fun  as  anyone,  in  the  right  time  and  place.  He  was  the  best  horse- 
man in  the  academy,  says  a  room-mate  who  was  intimate  with  him 


t/LVSSES  S.  GRANT 

at  this  time.  ' '  He  had  the  most  scrupulous  regard  for  truth.  He 
never  held  his  word  hght.  He  never  said  an  untruthful  word  even 
in  jest.  He  was  a  cheerful  man,  and  yet  he  had  these  moments 
when  he  seemed  to  feel  some  premonition  of  a  great  future — wonder- 
ing what  he  was  to  do  and  what  he  was  to  become. " 

In  the  early  days  at  West  Point  he  seems  to  have  had  no  craving 
for  military  life.  As  time  went  on,  the  magnificent  presence  of 
General  Scott,  who  now  and  then  appeared  and  watched  the  reviews 
of  the  academy,  inspired  a  dim  longing  and  almost  a  presentiment  of 
something  not  of  the  common  sort.  Yet  when  he  left  school  at  the 
end  of  four  years,  he  went  away  dreaming  of  nothing  more  military 
and  exciting  than  a  professorship  of  mathematics  in  some  quiet 
western  town.  Upon  graduation  he  was  offered  the  position  of 
brevet-lieutenant  in  the  infantry  service,  and  it  seemed  best  to  accept. 
He  received  a  leave  of  absence,  which  he  spent  in  visiting  his  Ohio 
friends.  There  was  still  enough  of  the  boy  left  in  the  young  military 
graduate  of  twenty-one  to  realize  a  sense  of  disappointment  over  the 
delay  for  several  weeks  of  the  arrival  of  his  new  uniform.  He  was  a 
little  anxious  to  be  seen  in  it  by  his  old  friends,  particularly  the  girls, 
as  he  confesses  to  us  in  his  memoirs.  It  came  at  last,  and,  no 
doubt,  created  plenty  of  admiration.  His  appearance  at  this  time 
is  thus  described  by  Hamlin  Garland,  in  McClure's  Magazine:  "At 
this  time  Grant  was  a  small  young  fellow,  a  little  over  five  feet  seven 
inches  in  height,  and  weighing  but  1 1 7  pounds.  His  face  was 
strongly  lined  like  his  father's,  with  fine  straight  nose  and  square 
jaws.  A  pleasant  and  shrewd  face  it  was,  with  a  twinkle  in  the  gray- 
blue  eyes  when  amused,  and  a  comical  twist  in  the  long  flexible  lips 
when  smiling.  His  hair  was  a  sandy  brown,  and  his  complexion  still 
inclined  to  freckles." 

He  was  next  ordered  to  Jefferson  Barracks,  near  St.  Louis, 
where  he  remained  from  September,  1843,  to  May,  1844.  During 
this  time  he  made  frequent  visits  to  a  classmate  residing  a  few  miles 
from  St.  Louis.  This  classmate  had  a  charming  sister,  Miss  Julia 
Dent.  The  young  Lieutenant  did  not  suspect  that  there  was  "any- 
thing serious  the  matter  with  him,"  as  he  says,  "until  the  Mexican 
war  broke  out  and  his  regiment  was  ordered  to  Louisiana.  He  made 
the  discovery  promptly  enough  then,  however,  and  started  out  to  pay 


THE  MAN  OF  SILENCE. 


GENERAL   SCOTT. 


a  farewell  visit  and  make  known  his  discovery  to  Miss  Dent.      On 
the  way  he  was  obliged  to  ford  a  swollen  river,  whereby  his  handsome 


ULYSSES  S.  GRANT 

uniform  was  completely  soaked.  This  was  a  sorry  plight  for  a  young 
man  on  such  an  errand,  but  he  did  not  allow  himself  to  be  discour- 
aged. The  young  lady  had  a  brother,  and  the  brother  had  an  extra 
suit  of  clothes.  They  could  be  borrowed,  and  although  they  did  not 
fit,  they  were  far  superior  to  wet  ones.  Having  begun  the  siege,  the 
young  officer,  like  the  dauntless  Grant  at  Ft.  Donelson,  would  accept 
no  terms  but  "unconditional  surrender."  When  he  rejoined  his 
regiment  he  took  with  him  her  promise  to  become  his  wife,  a  pledge 
which  was  not  fulfilled  until  the  close  of  the  war,  when  he  came  home 
as  Captain  Grant,  covered  with  military  honors. 

When  the  first  gun  was  fired  at  Palo  Alto,  young  Grant  was 
' '  sorry  he  had  enlisted. "  But  his  repentance  seems  not  to  have 
interfered  with  his  actions.  Again  at  the  beginning  of  the  last  war 
he  had  a  similar  experience.  Starting  out  with  his  regiment  to  attack 
the  enemy  at  the  little  town  of  Florida,  Missouri,  he  tells  us  that  his 
heart  kept  getting  higher  and  higher  until  it  seemed  to  be  in  his  throat. 
"I  would  have  given  anything  then  to  have  been  back  in  Illinois, 
but  I  had  not  the  moral  courage  to  halt  and  consider  what  to  do; 
I  kept  right  on."  That  was  a  good  kind  of  courage  not  to  have. 
His  heart  did  not  resume  its  proper  place  until  he  found  the 
enemy  had  gone.  But  that  was  the  end  of  such  experiences  for 
him.  He  says  he  never  felt  trepidation  afterwards,  though  he  often 
felt  much  anxiety  in  beginning  battle. 

Imm.ediately  after  his  marriage  in  1848,  he  was  stationed  at 
Sackett's  Harbor,  New  York,  where  he  remained  over  the  winter. 
The  next  two  years  were  spent  in  Detroit,  Michigan.  At  both  those 
places  he  had  the  company  of  his  wife.  But  when  he  was  ordered 
to  the  Pacific  coast  she  went  to  her  father's  home  near  St.  Louis. 
His  two  years  in  the  West  were  years  of  discouragement.  Army 
life  seemed  to  mean  lasting  separation  from  his  family  and  scarce 
means  of  support  for  them.  In  1854  he  resigned  and  returned  to 
St.  Louis,  where  he  spent  the  next  four  years  on  a  farm  given  to 
Mrs.  Grant  by  her  father.  He  worked  hard  early  and  late,  but  with 
small  success.  In  1858  he  sold  his  farming  utensils  and  stock,  and 
went  for  a  time  into  the  real  estate  business.  In  the  spring  of 
i860  he  removed  to  Galena,  Illinois,  and  went  to  work  in  a  leather 
store. 


THE  MAN  OF  SILENCE. 


o 

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O 

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ULYSSES  S.  GRANT 

Nothing  could  be  tamer  or  more  dispiriting  than  Grant's  career 
up  to  this  time.  At  the  age  of  thirty-eight  he  had  Httle  behind  him 
but  disappointment,  and,  to  all  appearances,  nothing  before  him  but 
failure.  He  had  not  even  succeeded  in  the  most  common-place  of 
attempts,  that  of  providing  comfortably  for  his  family. 

To  add  to  his  humiliation,  he  was  dependent  upon  his  brother 
for  his  new  position  in  the  tannery  at  Galena.  He  felt  himself  a 
drawback  to  their  success.  When  he  left  his  home  in  St.  Louis  to 
enter  again  upon  the  employment  so  hated  in  his  boyhood,  it  was 
with  a  crushing  sense  of  discouragement. 

But  the  trying  Scenes  of  '6i  to  '65  were  at  hand,  and  Grant  was 
destined  to  be  one  of  the  chief  actors.  He  was  to  command  a  mill- 
ion men.  He  was  to  be  an  instrument  in  working  out  the  salvation 
of  a  race.  He  was  probably  the  only  man  on  the  American  con- 
tinent who  united  the  skill,  the  foresight  and  the  nerve  to  accomplish 
that  tremendous  work  in  the  wilderness  of  Virginia.  When  the  great 
commander  had  again  become  a  simple  citizen,  he  was  to  be  elected 
to  the  highest  office  the  country  had  to  give.  He  was  to  receive  the 
highest  honors  that  the  royalty  of  the  world  could  bestow.  And  he 
was  to  be  followed  to  his  grave  by  the  loving  memories  of  a  gratefui 
people. 

But  even  after  the  war  had  begun,  his  destiny  seemed  to  halt, 
and  it  was  some  time  before  he  found  a  place  where  his  talents  could 
make  themselves  felt. 

In  1 86 1  the  Civil  War  broke  out,  and  President  Lincoln  called 
for  seventy-five  thousand  volunteers.  Captain  Grant,  though  a 
stranger,  was  called  upon  to  preside  at  the  first  war  meeting  in 
Galena.  He  was  soon  asked  to  fill  a  clerkship  in  the  office  of  the 
Adjutant-General  of  Illinois  for  a  time.  In  May  following  he  wrote 
to  the  Adjutant-General  of  the  army,  at  Washington,  offering  his 
services  for  the  army.  He  never  received  an  answer  to  his  letter. 
He  made  two  attempts  to  see  General  McClellan,  whom  he  had 
known  in  Mexico,  and  who  he  hoped  would  offer  him  a  position  in  his 
army.  He  was  unable  to  find  General  McClellan,  and  so  carried 
home  another  disappointment. 

It  was  a  disappointment  which  led  to  success.  When  the  Presi- 
dent  issued    his  next  call  for  volunteers,    the   Governor  of    Illinois 


THE  MAN  OF  SILENCE. 


GENERAL  MCCLELLAN. 


appointed  Captain  Grant  colonel  of  the  21st  regiment.  From  this 
time  on  success  awaited  the  man  whom  failure  had  followed  like  a 
shadow    since    the    close    of    the    Mexican    war.      He    was    made 


l/LVSSBS  S.   GRANT 

Brigadier-General  before  he  had  fought  his  first  battle  in  the  Civil 
War. 

In  the  spring  of  1862  the  country  began  to  hear  of  his  success. 
In  April  he  took  Ft.  Henry.  In  a  few  days  more  he  sent  his  famous 
message  to  General  Buckner:  "  No  terms  except  unconditional  and 
immediate  surrender  will  be  received.  I  propose  to  move  immedi- 
ately upon  your  works."  Ft.  Donelson  with  15,000  prisoners  fell  into 
his  hands,  and  "Unconditional  Surrender  Grant"  became  the  hero 
of  the  North.  His  initials  suggested  a  new  name,  and  "Uncon- 
ditional Surrender  Grant "  became  the  hero  of  the  North. 


RECRUITS   TO   THE    FRONT. 


The  desperate  battle  of  Shiloh  followed  in  April  and  success 
again  perched  upon  his  banners.  In  October  he  began  his  campaign 
against  Vicksburg,  which  held  out  against  him  until  July  of  1863. 
The  people  of  the  city  dug  caves  in  the  earth  where  they  lived  to 
avoid  the  shells  and  bullets  that  were  pouring  in  upon  them.  Food 
in  Vicksburg  was  scarce  and  supplies  of  all  kinds  ran  very  low. 
During  all  this  time  the  Yankee  and  Rebel  soldiers  were  on  the  best 
of  terms  whenever  they  happened  to  meet  in  a  personal  way.     They 


THE  MAN  OF  SILENCE. 


ULYSSES  S.   GRANT 

would  often  ' '  swap "  stories  with  one  another  across  the  trenches 
and  the  Union  soldiers  sometimes  divided  their  rations  with  the 
hungry    "Johnnies." 

"Well,  Yank,  when  are  you  coming  into  town?"  the  Con- 
federates would  ask.  "  We  will  celebrate  the  Fourth  of  July  there, 
Johnny,"  and  they  did.  The  Vicksburg  paper,  after  quoting  this 
boast,  added:  "The  best  recipe  for  cooking  a  rabbit  is,  'first  ketch 
your  rabbit. '  "  The  morning  paper  of  the  Fourth  of  July,  which  was 
printed  on  the  plain  side  of  wall-paper,  admitted,  ' '  The  Yankees 
have  caught  the  rabbit."  Five  days  later,  Port  Hudson  surrendered, 
and  four  hundred  miles  of  the  Mississippi  river  was  set  free. 

In  November  of  the  same  year.  General  Grant  again  led  the 
army  to  a  brilliant  success  in  the  great  battles  of  Missionary  Ridge 
and  Lookout  Mountain. 

All  this  time  the  great  Union  army  under  General  McClellan  and 
others  in  Virginia  was  accomplishing  nothing.  The  nation  began  to 
turn  to  Grant  as  its  only  resource.  In  March,  1864,  President 
Lincoln  appointed  him  Lieutenant-General  and  made  him  practically 
commander-in-chief  of  all  the  armies.  He  at  once  set  about  plan- 
ning the  two  great  campaigns  which  ended  the  war.  He  was  himself 
to  lead  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  through  Virginia  to  Richmond,  the 
Confederate  capital.  General  Sherman  was  to  ' '  march  through 
Georgia  "  to  the  sea  and  then  northward  to  meet  General  Grant  at 
Richmond. 

We  know  how  well  that  plan  was  carried  out.  On  the  4th  of 
May,  General  Grant  started  his  army  across  the  Rapidan  toward 
Richmond,  and,  seated  on  a  log,  penciled  a  telegram  to  Sherman  to 
start  at  once. 

General  Lee,  with  the  worn-out  and  hungry  but  resolute  Army 
of  Virginia,  was  ready  to  dispute  every  inch  of  the  way  to  Richmond. 
At  the  battle  of  the  Wilderness  the  brave  General  Lee  stopped  the 
Union  army  with  terrible  slaughter  and  thought  General  Grant  would 
turn  back.  Grant  thought  differently.  He  issued  the  order  which 
became  famous  during  that  campaign,  "  Forward  by  the  right  flank,'' 
and  moved  on.  At  Spottsylvania  Court  House  another  terrible  battle 
was  fought.  The  bullets  fliew  so  thick  that  a  tree  a  foot  and  a  half 
in  diameter  was  cut  down  by  them.     It  was  at  this  time  that  Grant 


i/LYSSBS  S.   GRANT' 


BATTLE  OF  THE  WILDERNESS. 

sent  his  famous  message,   ' '  I  propose  to  fight  it  out  on  this  line  if  it 
takes  all   summer."     North  Anna,   Cold   Harbor  and  other  terrible 


ULYSSES  S.  GRANT 


UNITED   STATES   SOLDIERS    MARCHING   TO   THE   FRONT. 

battles  followed,  and  before  General  Grant  reached  Richmond  the 
remnants  of  Lee's  army  were  in  a  pitiful  condition.  It  is  a  tale  of 
terrible  bloodshed,  but  it  was  the  only  way.  An  incident  following  the 
battle  of  Shiloh  shows  that  Grant  had  a  tender  heart,  and  did  not 


THE  MAN  OF  SILENCE. 

love  fighting  for  its  own  sake.  The  night  after  the  battle,  a  pouring 
rain  came  down  upon  the  army.  General  Grant  was  attempting  to 
sleep  under  a  tree  near  the  banks  of  the  river.  ' '  Some  time  after 
midnight, "  he  writes,  ' '  growing  restive  under  the  storm  and  the  con- 
tinuous rain,  I  moved  back  to  the  log-house  under  the  bank.  This 
had  been  taken  as  a  hospital,  and  all  night  wounded  men  were 
brought  in,  their  wounds  dressed,  a  leg  or  an  arm  amputated,  as  the 
case  might  require,  and  everything  being  done  to  save  life  or  alleviate 
suffering.  The  sight  was  more  unendurable  than  encountering  the 
enemy's  fire,  and  I  returned  to  my  tree  in  the  rain. "  Yet  this  man 
who  was  so  sensitive  to  the  sight  of  pain,  had  the  courage  to  fight  it 
out  to  the  end,  because  he  believed  the  bloody  road  was  the  only 
way  to  peace. 

On  the  9th  of  April,  the  two  Generals  met  at  Appomattox  Court 
House  and  made  arrangements  for  the  surrender  of  the  Southern 
army.  The  interview  was  courteous  and  kindly  throughout.  After 
the  agreement  had  been  written  out.  General  Lee  said  he  had 
forgotten  to  mention  that  most  of  his  men  rode  their  own 
horses.  General  Grant  said  at  once  that  they  might  keep  them, 
for  they  would  need  them  on  their  farms.  The  Southern  army 
was  out  of  food  and  General  Grant  ordered  full  rations  to  be  sent 
them. 

When  the  news  of  the  surrender  reached  the  Union  army,  they 
began  firing  guns  to  show  their  joy.  This  Grant  forbade  at  once, 
saying  the  Southern  army  had  been  already  sufficiently  humbled. 
The  other  Southern  armies  surrendered  in  a  short  time,  and  the  war 
was  soon  ended.  The  next  year  a  new  rank  was  created  for  the 
great  commander  and  he  was  made  General  of  the  Army. 

In  1868,  and  again  in  1872,  he  was  elected  President  of  the 
United  States.  He  filled  this  position  as  he  did  all  others,  honestly 
and  nobly,  though,  perhaps,  not  wisely  in  all  cases.  He  was  so 
honest  and  simple-minded  that  he  was  sometimes  deceived  by  villain- 
ous office-seekers. 

In  1877  General  Grant  made  a  tour  of  the  world  with  his  family 
and  other  friends,  meeting  ever^'where  with  distinguished  attention, 
as  befitted  the  brave,  modest  man  who  had  wrought  so  heroically  for 
his  kind.     The  crowned  heads  of  Europe  vied  with  one  another  in 


ULYSSES  S.    GRANT. 

honoring  themselves  by  paying  honor  to  this  plain,  unassuming  citizen- 
soldier  of  the  West. 

On  his  return  he  bought  a  home  in  New  York  city,  where  he  and 
his  family  lived  for  the  rest  of  his  life,  spending  the  summers  generally 
at  Long  Branch. 

About  this  time  General  Grant  invested  everything  he  had  saved 
in  a  New  York  banking  house,  with  one  of  his  sons  to  look  after  the 
business.  Through  the  villainy  of  two  of  the  partners,  the  business 
failed  in  1884  and  the  General  was  robbed  of  nearly  everything  he 
possessed.  During  the  same  year  a  fatal  cancerous  trouble  began  to 
develop  in  his  throat,  and  he  saw  death  at  the  door  with  his  family 
unprovided  for.  Up  to  this  time  he  had  refused  several  tempting 
offers  to  do  literary  work.  In  February,  1885,  he  engaged  to  write 
the  two  volumes  of  his  Memoirs,  from  which  we  have  several  times 
quoted  in  this  little  sketch.  Again  he  seemed  to  be  animated  by  the 
same  spirit  of  determination  which  had  possessed  him  in  the  Wilder- 
ness of  Virginia.  He  completed  the  work  four  days  before  his  death, 
which  took  place  at  Mt.  McGregor,  near  Saratoga,  New  York,  much 
of  it  having  been  written  under  pressure  of  great  pain,  as  he  sat 
propped  up  in  bed  or  in  a  reclining  chair.  The  sale  of  the  book  was 
enormous  and  the  proceeds  made  an  abundant  provision  for  Mrs. 
Grant  and  her  children.  It  was  a  simple,  straight-forward  story  of 
a  modest,  noble  life.  A  few  characteristic,  and,  let  us  hope,  prophetic 
lines  from  his  last  pages  are  fitting  words  to  end  this  record:  "  I  feel 
that  we  are  on  the  eve  of  a  new  era,  when  there  is  to  be  great  har- 
mony between  the  Federal  and  Confederate.  I  cannot  stay  to  be  a 
living  witness  to  the  correctness  of  this  prophecy  ;  but  I  feel  it  within 
me  that  it  is  to  be  so.  The  universally  kind  feeling  expressed  for  me 
at  a  time  when  it  was  supposed  that  each  day  would  prove  my  last, 
seemed  to  me  the  beginning  of  the  answer  to  '  Let  us  have  peace. 


GEORGE   DEWEY 


THE   MAN   WHO   "STEAMED   AHEAD" 


VERY  child  contains  within  him  in  embryo  the  quahties  that  he 
displays  in  maturity.      Environment  and  training  will  develop 
certain  latent  qualities  more  than  others,  but  it  is  to  be 
doubted  if  they  can  create  in  a  man  a  capacity  for  any  one  thing 

"i  which  was  not  born  in  him.     Any 
study   of   mankind  which  fails    to 
take    notice    of   both  environment 
and  heredity  will  fail  in  complete- 
ness.    In  America  we  feel  that  an- 
-1  cestry    has  little    influence    in 
Xjfixing  a  man's  station  among  his 
■"     fellows,  each  must  be  judged 
by  his  works,  yet  we  cannot 
ignore  the  factor  of  family  in 
discovering    the   source  of 
the    qualities    which  gain 
any  special  prominence  for 
their  possessor. 

The    ancestors   of 
George     Dewey,     the 
subject  of  this  sketch, 
came   to  America  from 
England.     History  tells 
us  that  they  were  immi- 
grants to  England  some 
generations  earlier,  and 
family  was  of  French  extraction.    In  its 
form   the  name  was  spelled  Deueua. 
Tiecords  of  the  family  show  one  of  the 


j^ - 

that  the 


f^2f~^ 


original 

Early   dewey's  first  cruise 


GEORGE  DSWEY 

ancestors  as  a  successful  general  in  the  French  armies.  George 
Dewey,  the  hero  of  Manila  Bay,  is  of  the  ninth  generation  from  the 
first  Dewey  who  came  to  America.  The  first  Dewey  emigrated  from 
Sandwich,  England,  in  1633,  and  settled  in  the  Massachusetts  Bay 
colony  at  Dorchester.  From  here  the  family  scattered,  one  branch 
locating  in  New  York  and  one  in  Vermont.  It  is  from  the  latter 
that  the  great  admiral  is  descended.  The  Deweys  were  keen  business 
men,  able  to  figure  out  the  chances  in  enterprises  involving  great  risk, 
and  willing  to  take  any  risk  necessary  when  the  chances  had  been 
once  satisfactorily  calculated.  Another  characteristic  was  their  ex- 
ceeding great  independence.  They  were  not  even  clannish  with  their 
relatives,  seeming  to  choose  their  friendships  within  or  without  the 
family,  as  was  most  congenial  to  them. 

Simeon  Dewey,  the  grandfather  of  George  Dewey,  was  born  in 
Hanover,  New  Hampshire.  In  early  manhood  he  bought  a  farm  in 
Berlin,  Vermont,  only  four  miles  from  Montpelier,  the  capital  of  the 
Green  Mountain  State,  and  there  the  admiral's  father  was  born  in 
1 80 1.  This  grandfather,  Simeon  Dewey,  was  one  of  the  long-lived 
members  of  the  long-lived  family.  One  anecdote  relates  that  the 
admiral's  brother,  when  in  England  some  time  ago,  happened  to  hear 
a  Britisher  say,  '  'Americans  are  undersized  and  die  early  because 
they  live  upon  pork  and  ice-water. "  Mr.  Dewey  dryly  replied  that  it 
had  been  a  mystery  to  him  why  his  grandfather  Simeon  had  been 
prematurely  cut  off  at  the  early  age  of  ninety-three.  To  him  pork 
and  ice-water  were  essentials. 

When  the  admiral's  father,  Julius  Yeman's  Dewey,  was  twenty- 
one  years  old,  he  moved  to  Montpelier,  and  there  married  Miss  Mary 
Perrin  three  years  later.  Of  this  union  four  children  were  born, 
Charles,  Edward,  George  and  Mary.  The  mother  died  when  George 
was  but  five  years  old,  but  the  father  was  married  twice  more  before 
his  death  at  the  age  of  seventy-six  years.  Here  in  Montpelier, 
George  Dewey  was  born  on  December  26,  1837.  The  house  of  his 
birth  still  stands  almost  as  it  was  then,  a  modest,  neat  New  England 
home,  like  thousands  of  others  out  of  which  have  come  strong  men 
and  women  to  do  their  part  in  the  battles  of  life.  The  father  of  the 
family  was  a  man  of  the  highest  New  England  type.  As  a  school- 
teacher in  Montpelier  he  earned  money  to  study  medicine  and  take 


THE  MAN   WHO  ''STEAMED   AHEAD'' 


CAPT.   SIMEON    DEWEY   (grandfather). 


FOUR   GENERATIONS. 

GEORGE  DEWEY   (at  age  of  30). 
GEORGE  GODWIN   DEWEY   (son; 


DR.  JULIUS  YEMANS  DEWEY  (father). 


GEORGE  DEWEY 

his  degree.  He  was  an  early  riser  and  taught  his  children  to  follow 
his  example.  He  was  a  man  of  deep  religious  convictions  and  active 
in  the  practical  work  of  the  church.  Family  prayers  and  grace 
before  meals  were  the  practice  of  the  Dewey  home.  Hymns  were 
sung  on  Sunday  evenings,  the  doctor  leading  the  singing.  He  loved 
not  only  his  own  children  but  all  children  and  this  trait  the  admiral 
inherited  from  him.  He  told  stories  and  carried  sunshine  with  him 
wherever  he  went  and  he  was  a  welcome  visitor  all  over  the  surround- 
ing country. 

The  Montpelier  into  which  George  Dewey  was  born  on  the  day 
after  Christmas,  1837,  was  not  immensely  different  from  the  Montpe- 
lier of  to-day.  There  were  the  same  white  cottages  with  green  blinds, 
the  same  picket  fences,  the  same  river  and  the  same  New  England 
hills.  The  people  were  prosperous  and  thrifty  as  they  are  now.  Fine 
elms  lined  the  streets  as  they  do  to-day,  and  the  town  was  clean  and 
well-kept.  In  former  days  the  Onion  river,  now  called  the  Winooski, 
ran  just  behind  the  house,  and  many  of  the  tales  of  Dewey's  child- 
hood are  connected  with  this  river.  One  old  friend  recalls  his  first 
introduction  to  little  George  when  he  was  brought  from  the  river,  a 
barefoot  boy,  to  meet  the  stranger  in  the  parlor.  His  sister  Mary, 
two  years  younger  than  himself,  admired  his  prowess  and  imperson- 
ated whatever  character  was  necessary  to  make  his  own  play  com- 
plete. They  fished  together  and  took  mountain  tramps  together 
as  other  children  do  to-day.  George  was  not  a  great  reader, 
but  "Robinson  Crusoe"  won  his  favor  and  suggested  new  games. 
Then  when  he  was  ten,  his  brother  Charles  gave  him  a  ' '  Life  of 
Hannibal."  A  big  snow-drift  answered  for  the  Alps,  and  the  two 
3'ounger  children  set  to  work  to  emulate  the  Carthaginian  leader. 
Mary  suffered  a  week's  sickness  in  bed  thereby,  but  George  escaped 
unscathed  from  his  adventure. 

By  the  older  people  of  Montpelier,  George  Dewey  is  remembered 
as  a  good  deal  of  a  rogue.  He  was  a  harum-scarum  lad,  always  in 
mischief,  and  more  than  one  of  his  pranks  are  remembered  to  this 
day.  He  was  the  best  swimmer  among  all  the  boys  of  his  age  and 
nothing  was  too  reckless  for  him  to  undertake.  At  winter  sports  he 
was  regarded  as  one  of  the  best  in  the  village.  In  the  summer  one 
of  his  chief  pleasures  was  climbing  such  trees  as  contained  the  earliest 


THE  MAN  WHO  ''STEAMED  AHEAD'' 

apples  and  the  choicest  cherries,  and  it  was  never  observed  that  he 
was  over  particular  whose  orchard  he  visited.  He  was  something  of 
a  fighter,  too,  and  while  details  are  lacking,  it  is  said  that  George 
always  was  the  victor. 

A  favorite  amusement  of  the  youngsters  was  the  giving  of  cir- 
cuses, dramas  and  minstrel  shows  in  the  Dewey  barn.  George  was 
impressario,  director,  prompter,  business  and  stage  manager  and 
usually  star  of  the  performances.  The  same  kind  sister  was  at  his 
service  there  as  elsewhere,  though  she  did  not  enjoy  participating  in 
the  shows.  On  one  occasion,  however,  she  relates,  the  ten-year-old 
leading  lady  was  missing  and  George  drew  her  into  service  as  an 
understudy  to  play  the  part  at  a  moment's  notice.  To  her  protest 
that  she  did  not  know  all  the  lines,  he  answered  that  that  made  no 
difference,  as  he  would  fire  his  pistol  at  any  place  where  she  stumbled 
and  that  would  conceal  her  difficulty.  The  solution  was  a  happy 
one.  The  audience  was  delighted  at  the  interpolation,  failing  to 
discover  the  depth  of  the  scheme,  and  the  affair  passed  off 
without  a  hitch.  Then  the  neighbors  made  a  protest  on  the  pis- 
tol feature  of  the  play,  and  Dewey's  father  forbade  further  shows 
of  the  sort. 

One  day  when  he  was  not  more  than  eleven,  says  the  Review  of 
Reviews,  he  started  out  in  his  father's  buggy,  accompanied  by  his 
friend,  Will  Redfield,  bent  upon  an  overland  trip  of  adventure.  But 
when  they  came  to  the  Dog  river,  which  enters  the  Winooski  some  dis- 
tance from  the  town,  they  found  it  higher  than  the  oldest  inhabitant 
ever  had  seen  it,  the  ford  impassable  from  recent  rains.  William 
prudently  counseled  turning  back,  but  to  this  the  future  admiral 
would  not  listen.  ' '  What  man  has  done,  man  can  do, "  he  said, 
and  went  at  the  ford  "four  bells."  Needless  to  say,  he  found 
no  bottom  ;  the  buggy  body  went  adrift  and  floated  swiftly  away 
toward  Lake  Champlain,  while  the  admiral,  serene  as  ever,  and 
the  thoroughly  frightened  William,  clambered  on  board  the  horse 
and  managed  to  land  in  safety.  When  the  boy  reached  home,  the 
doctor  was  away,  and  George  went  directly  te  bed,  without  waiting 
for  supper.  The  father  found  him,  and  began  to  chide  him  for  his 
rashness,  when  his  son  rephed:  "  You  ought  to  be  thankful  that  my 
life  wath  thpared  !  " 


GEORGE  DEWEY 

When  the  time  came  for  George  Dewey  to  begin  his  school  days, 
he  was  sent  first  to  the  Washington  county  grammar  school  in  Mont- 
pelier.  It  had  a  bad  reputation  for  order  and  more  than  one  teacher 
had  been  compelled  to  give  it  up.  Young  Dewey  was  not  backward 
in  the  troubles.  There  seems  no  doubt  that  he  was  a  "sassy," 
obstinate  schoolboy  and  that  he  deserved  the  punishment  that  came 
to  him  at  last.  The  person  who  ' '  licked  "  him  was  a  weak,  under- 
sized school  teacher,  weighing  ninety  pounds,  now  Major  Z.  K.  Pang- 
born,  editor  of  the  Jersey  City  Journal,  and  this  is  the  story  he  tells: 

' '  I  took  charge  and  for  the  first  week  there  was  no  outbreak. 
George  Dewey  was  one  of  the  boldest  and  brightest  of  the  younger 
lads,  and  above  all  things  loved  to  fight.  While  there  was  nothing 
you  could  call  bad  about  him,  he  resented  authority  and  evinced 
a  sturdy  determination  not  to  submit  to  it  unless  it  suited  him. 

"After  the  usual  afternoon  recess  one  Monday,  Dewey  did  not 
return  to  the  schoolroom.  I  sent  for  him,  but  the  messenger  returned 
saying  that  George  had  declared  that  he  wasn't  coming,  and  that  I 
might  go  to  he  devil.  After  school  that  day,  George,  who  had 
climbed  into  the  cupola  of  the  old  statehouse,  amused  himself  by 
pelting  the  children  with  snowballs,  and  when  I  went  out  and  com- 
manded him  to  come  down,  he  again  advised  me  to  go  to  the  devil. 
I  was  mad,  and  when  I  got  home  I  spent  the  evening  perfecting  a 
plan  of  campaign  for  the  next  day.  I  first  of  all  provided  myself 
with  a  very  substantial  rawhide,  took  it  to  the  schoolroom  and  placed 
it  over  the  ledge  of  the  entrance  door  where  it  would  be  ready  next 
day.  I  also  secured  two  or  three  round  sticks  of  cord  wood  and 
placed  them  on  top  of  the  wood-box  ir^  the  schoolroom  where  I  could 
reach  them  easily. 

"Dewey  came  to  school  next  day  as  if  nothing  had  happened. 
His  smile  was  both  childlike  and  bland.  I  wasted  no  time  in  pre- 
liminaries, but  as  soon  as  the  scholars  were  in  their  places,  I  sum- 
moned Dewey  to  the  platform  in  a  terrible  voice.  He  came  with  a 
*  sassy '  twinkle  in  his  eyes,  and  seemed  to  survey  my  slender  pro- 
portions with  contempt.  Then  I  began  to  talk,  and  wound  up  by 
saying  that  he  must  forthwith  say  he  was  sorry  for  having  misbehaved 
himself,  apologize  both  to  me  and  to  the  school  for  what  he  had  done 
and  promise  to  be  obedient  and  orderly  in  the  future.     I  told  him  if 


THE  MAN   WHO    ''STEAMED  AHEAD'' 


he  did  not  do  this  I  should  punish  him  then  and  there.  Dewey 
laughed  and  once  more  invited  me  in  quick,  merry  sentences  to  go 
to  the  devil.  The  next  instant,  I  and  the  rawhide  were  winding  and 
tossing  around  Dewey.  I  was  little  and  slender,  but  so  also  was  the 
rawhide  and  the  two  of  us  so  demoralized  Dewey  that  almost  before 
I  was  aware  of  it  he  was  lying 
in  a  heap  on  the  floor,  con- 
quered, while  I  glared  over  his 
prostrate  form  at  the  other  rebel- 
lious spirits  in  the  school." 

Then  Mr.  Pangborn  told 
Dewey  to  go  home,  and  went 
along  with  him.  Mr.  Dewey 
took  culprit  and  dominie  into  his 
study  and  asked  for  the  story, 
which  was  related.  His  father 
was  a  just  man  and  told  the  boy 
that  he  had  no  one  to  blame 
but  himself  for  the  punishment, 
and  that  if  it  was  not  enough 
to  teach  him  a  lesson,  another 
would  be  added  to  the  one  al- 
ready given  him. 

Young  Dewey  was  too  big- 
hearted  to  harbor  resentment 
against  the  school-master  who 
did  not  fiinch  from  his  duty,  and  they  became  great  friends.  A  year 
later,  when  Mr.  Pangborn  went  to  the  neighboring  town  of  Johnson 
to  establish  an  academy,  George  went  there  at  his  own  request  and 
entered  the  school.  In  1852,  when  George  was  fifteen  years  of  age, 
he  went  to  the  military  school  at  Norwich,  Vermont.  It  was  there 
that  he  formed  his  admiration  for  military  life  and  a  wish  to  enter 
the  Naval  Academy  at  Annapolis.  With  his  departure  from  Mont- 
pelier  to  enter  the  Naval  Academy,  young  Dewey's  actual  residence 
in  that  town  was  at  an  end.  The  townspeople,  however,  never  have 
lost  sight  of  his  career  nor  have  they  failed  in  pride  at  his  success. 
When  the  news  of  his  great  victory  came  to  that   little  city  in  Ver- 


GEORGE    DEWEY   WAS   THE    LAST   MAN 
ON    THE    BURNING   SHIP. 


GEORGE  DEIVEY 

mont  there  was  a  celebration  which  in  heartiness  could  not  be  ex- 
celled anywhere,  however  much  it  may  have  been  outdone  in  volume. 

There  has  been  no  period  in  the  career  of  George  Dewey  in 
which  he  has  failed  to  make  his  mark.  At  the  Annapolis  Naval 
Academy  he  made  a  distinct  impress  by  his  clear  individuality,  and 
prepared  the  way  for  the  distinctions  he  won  in  the  war  between  the 
states.  Dewey  entered  the  Naval  Academy  in  1854,  at  the  age  of 
seventeen.  His  active,  energetic  life  had  brought  him  strength,  endur- 
ance, and  medium  height.  He  needed  not  to  retire  before  any  of  his 
classmates  in  outdoor  exercises.  When  the  Naval  Academy  class  of 
1858  was  graduated,  fourteen  received  diplomas  out  of  the  sixty-five 
boys  who  had  begun  the  course  together.  Of  the  fourteen,  George 
Dewey,  then  not  twenty-one  years  old,  stood  fifth  in  rank.  He  had 
not  proved  himself  an  exceptional  student,  but  in  seamanship  and 
other  technical  branches  he  excelled.  The  midshipmen  of  that  day 
were  taught  not  only  how  to  hand,  reef,  and  steer,  but  also  the 
higher  branches  of  mathematics,  the  modern  languages,  and,  of 
course,  gunnery  and  navigation.  Each  student  was  required  to  stand 
upon  his  own  merits.  No  favoritism  was  shown,  and  no  one  but 
himself  was  to  blame  if  he  could  not  pass.  Discipline  was  rigid.  A 
high  sense  of  honor  was  inculcated.  It  is  no  surprise  that  such  men 
as  Dewey  come  out  of  such  ancestry  and  such  environment. 

The  young  midshipman's  first  cruise  after  graduation  was  aboard 
the  old  steam  frigate  "Wabash,"  under  the  command  of  Captain 
Barron.  The  "Wabash"  was  on  the  European  station,  most  of  the 
time  in  the  Mediterranean,  and  Dewey  saw  those  southern  shores  to 
good  advantage. 

In  i860  Dewey  returned  to  Annapolis  for  his  final  examination. 
The  two  years  had  been  fruitful  of  valuable  experience.  This  time 
he  led  his  fellows,  a  standing  which,  combined  with  his  former  one, 
gave  him  a  final  rating  of  third  in  his  class  and  the  rank  of  Passed 
Midshipman.  He  obtained  a  furlough  and  journeyed  to  his  home  in 
Vermont  to  visit  his  father  before  beginning  another  cruise. 

Six  days  after  Fort  Sumter  was  fired  on  his  furlough  ended. 
April  18,  1 86 1,  Dewey  received  his  commission  as  lieutenant  and 
was  assigned  to  duty  aboard  the  ' '  Mississippi, "  then  lying  in  Boston 
harbor,  a  steamer  of  twelve  guns,  commanded  by  Captain  Melanc- 


THE  MAN  WHO   ''STEAMED  AHEAD'' 

ton  Smith.  In  the  organization  of  the  United  States  Navy  for  the 
Civil  War  she  was  made  a  part  of  the  West  Gulf  Blockading  Squad- 
ron, under  command  of  Captain  David  G.  Farragut,  and  on  January 
20,  1862,  the  fleet  sailed  for  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  for  the  purpose  of 
capturing  the  Confederate  stronghold,  the  city  of  New  Orleans. 

Of  the  young  lieutenant's  services  in  the  capture  of  New  Orleans 
too  much  cannot  be  said.  Courageous,  quick  to  see  and  quick  to 
act,  cool,  cautious  and  alert,  he  quickly  won  the  respect  of  his  supe- 
rior officers  and  the  love  of  the  men  under  him.  After  the  capture 
of  the  city,  for  several  months  the  "Mississippi,"  in  conjunction 
with  other  vessels  of  the  fleet,  patrolled  the  river  between  New  Or- 
leans and  Vicksburg,  frequently  ascending  the  bayous,  and  doing 
good  work  for  the  Federal  cause,  with  Lieutenant  Dewey  still  second 
in  rank. 

From  January,  1863,  the  "  Alississippi  "  was  employed  in  assist- 
ing General  Banks  to  force  his  way  into  the  interior  of  Lousiana,  and 
bringing  all  of  the  country  that  could  be  secured  under  subjection. 
This  was  a  difficult  task,  for  the  enemy  opposed  the  Federal  forces 
at  every  step  with  a  courage  and  determination  very  difficult  to  over- 
come. In  March  it  was  decided  by  Rear-Admiral  Farragut  and 
General  Banks  that  the  former  should  move  with  his  fleet  past  Port 
Hudson,  which  was  at  that  time  well  fortified  with  nineteen  heavy 
guns  bearing  on  the  water  approaches.  In  the  desperate  engagement 
which  followed,  the  ' '  Mississippi  "  grounded  hard  and  fast,  and  it 
was  found  necessary  to  abandon  her.  Her  engines  were  destroyed, 
small  arms  thrown  overboard,  the  sick  and  wounded  landed  on  the 
shore,  and  fires  kindled  in  several  parts  of  the  ship.  When  these 
were  well  under  way  the  captain  left  the  ship,  and  with  his  crew  in 
open  boats  went  past  the  batteries  to  the  fleet  below.  The  task  of 
getting  the  men  to  safety  devolved  on  Lieutenant  Dewey.  Twice  he 
went  to  the  "Richmond"  and  twice  came  back,  until  at  last  he  and 
Captain  Smith  stood  alone  on  the  deck. 

"Are  you  sure  she  will  burn,  Dewey?  "  the  captain  asked  as  he 
paused  at  the  gangway.  Dewey  risked  his  life  to  go  to  the  ward- 
room for  a  last  look,  and  together  they  left  the  ship,  sorrowfully, 
with  the  shot  splashing  all  around  them. 

Captain   Smith,   in   his  report  of    the  catastrophe,    said  of   our 


GEORGE  DEWEY 

hero:  "  I  consider  that  I  should  be  neglecting  a  most  important  duty 
should  I  omit  to  mention  the  coolness  of  my  executive  officer,  Mr. 
Dewey,  and  the  steady,  fearless  and  gallant  manner  in  which  the  offi- 
cers and  men  of  the  •  Mississippi '  defended  her,  and  the  orderly 
and  quiet  manner  in  which  she  was  abandoned  after  being  thirty-five 
minutes  aground  under  fire  of  the  enemy's  batteries."  Dewey  is 
next  found  in  the  capacity  of  first  lieutenant  of  a  gunboat  used  by 
the  admiral  as  a  dispatch  boat.  This  established  closer  relations 
between  the  two  men,  and  Farragut  formed  a  sincere  regard  for  the 
young  lieutenant.  The  Confederates  had  a  trick  of  suddenly  ap- 
pearing on  the  high  banks  of  the  river  with  a  field  piece,  firing  point 
blank  at  any  boat  that  might  be  within  range,  and  disappearing  as 
quickly  as  they  came.  Upon  one  of  these  occasions  a  shot  came 
within  a  hair's-breadth  of  Dewey,  and  involuntarily  he  jumped  aside 
trying  to  escape  it.  The  admiral  happened  to  be  near  at  the  time, 
and  said:  "Why  don't  you  stand  firm.  Lieutenant?  Don't  you  know 
you  can't  jump  quick  enough?  "  Soon  after,  Farragut  dodged  a  shot 
under  similar  circumstances.  The  lieutenant  smiled  but  held  his 
tongue.  But  the  admiral  had  a  guilty  conscience.  He  cleared  his 
throat,  shifted  his  position,  and  finally  said:  "Why,  sir,  you  can't 
help  it,  sir.      It's  human  nature,  and  there's  an  end  to  it ! " 

Dewey  was  afterwards  given  the  command  of  the  ' '  Mononga- 
hela, "  a  post  made  vacant  by  the  death  of  her  commander,  Abner 
Reed.  This  appointment  was  only  temporary,  however,  and  he  was 
shortly  afterwards  transferred  to  the  steam  gunboat  "Agawam," 
which  was  attached  to  the  North  Atlantic  Blockading  Squadron  under 
command  of  Rear-Admiral  Porter.  At  the  time  of  the  two  attacks 
on  Fort  Fisher  he  was  first  lieutenant  of  the  "  Colorado,"  Commo- 
dore Henry  Knox  Thatcher  commanding,  where  he  won  new  laurels. 
Towards  the  end  of  the  second  attack  on  Fort  Fisher,  Admiral  Por- 
ter signaled  to  Commodore  Thatcher,  of  the  "  Colorado,"  to  close  in 
and  silence  a  certain  part  of  the  works.  The  ship  had  already  been 
struck  several  times  by  the  shells  of  the  enemy,  and  Dewey  saw 
instantly  the  advantage  to  be  gained  by  the  move.  "We  shall  be 
safer  in  there,"  he  remarked,  "  and  the  works  can  be  taken  in  fifteen 
minutes."  The  signal  was  obeyed  and  Dewey's  prediction  proved  a 
correct  one.      When  Admiral  Porter  came  to  congratulate  Commo- 


THE  MAN  WHO   ''STEAMED  AHEAD'' 


dore  Thatcher,   the   latter  disclaimed  any  credit  for  the  success  of 
maneuver,  but  generously  said:  "You  must  thank  Lieutenant  Dewey, 


sir. 


Immediately   after  the    Fort    Fisher    engagement    Commodore 
Thatcher  was  named  as  acting   rear-admiral,  and  a  few  weeks  latej 


-•!v>j».is!s?pr>  *.'•?: 


BATTLE   OF    MANILA    BAY. 

was  ordered  to  Mobile  Bay,  where  he  relieved  Farragut.  He  recom- 
mended Dewey  for  his  fleet  captaincy,  but  the  department  did  not 
see  fit  to  follow  the  suggestion.  However,  March  3,  1865,  his 
ability  was  recognized  and  his  bravery  rewarded  by  a  commision  as 
lieutenant-commander.  Dewey  thus  reached  in  eleven  years  from 
the  time  he  entered  the  academy  a  rank  to  attain  which  in  time  of 
peace  frequently  requires  a  service  of  thirty  years.  His  association 
with  Farragut,  Porter,  Thatcher,  Smith,  and  many  other  naval 
heroes  of  the  times  did  much  to  give  him  a  practical  knowledge  of 


GEORGE  DEWEY 

warfare  on  river  and  sea;  and  his  natural  ability,  his  fertility  of 
resource,  and  his  quickness  of  comprehension  under  trying  circum- 
stances, were  qualities  which  he  was  then  developing,  and  which 
brought  him  the  praise  of  a  world  in  after  years.  The  qualities 
which  Dewey  demonstrated  in  the  Civil  War,  and  the  reputation 
which  he  brought  out  of  that  conflict,  gave  him  high  standing  among 
his  superior  officers,  and  many  creditable  assignments  fell  to  him. 

Immediately  following  the  war  Lieutenant-Commander  Dewey 
served  for  two  years  on  the  European  station,  on  the  "Kearsarge. " 
Next  he  was  assigned  to  the  frigate  "  Colorado,"  the  flagship  of  the 
squadron,  under  command  of  Rear-Admiral  Goldsborough.  J.  C 
Watson,  who  was  then  a  lieutenant-commander  like  Dewey,  and 
who  is  now  a  rear-admiral,  was  one  of  Dewey's  messmates  in  the 
same  vessel.  W.  W.  Stone,  who  was  ship's  writer  on  board  the  flag- 
ship, relates  an  incident  which  involves  not  only  the  two  lieutenant- 
commanders  but  the  admiral  as  well.  Admiral  Goldsborough's 
valet,  John,  who  at  one  time  had  been  a  servant  of  President  Lin- 
coln in  the  White  House,  was  a  witty  but  bungling  Irishman.  One 
morning  the  admiral  sent  word  down  to  John  that  he  wanted  his 
glass,  meaning,  of  course,  his  spyglass.  John,  as  usual,  however, 
misunderstood,  and  came  tramping  up  to  the  bridge  with  a  goblet  in 
his  hand.  ' '  John,  you  are  the  devil's  own  valet, "  growled  the  admiral 
when  he  saw  him  coming.  "Faith,  sor,  I  didn't  think  I'd  come  to 
that  same  when  I  took  service  wid  ye,  sor. "  ' '  Throw  that  blamed 
goblet  overboard  and  go  and  get  me  my  spyglass  as  I  told  you,  you 
infernal  idiot."  "Yes,  sor, "  said  John,  calmly  tossing  the  glass  over 
the  side.  In  doing  so  he  narrowly  escaped  dashing  it  upon  the 
upturned  face  of  the  executive  officer,  Lieutenant-Commander  George 
Dewey,  who  was  on  a  tour  of  inspection,  circling  the  frigate  in  one  of 
the  cutters  of  the  ' '  Colorado, "  which  had  just  arrived  from  Trieste. 

' '  Go  below,  you  blundering  Irishman,  before  I  have  you  tossed 
over  after  the  glass, "  said  the  admiral.  The  man  disappeared  with 
just  the  suspicion  of  a  smirk  on  his  innocent-looking  face.  "Mr. 
Dewey  would  like  to  have  you  find  out,  sir,  who  is  heaving  crockery 
over  the  side  of  the  ship,  sir, "  one  of  the  crew  of  the  cutter  said  to 
Lieutenant-Commander  Watson,  at  the  time  officer  of  the  deck. 
The    admiral  overheard   the    message   of  the   angry   executive  and 


THE  MAN  WHO    ''STEAMED  AHEAD 


n 


laughed  quietly.  ' '  Tell  Mr.  Dewey  that  it  was  the  admiral,  my  man, " 
said  he  soberly;  then,  turning  to  Mr.  Watson,  he  remarked,  "He 
can't  very  well  put  the  admiral  in  the  brig,  though  I  may  deserve 
it."  "He  may  look  around  for  a  substitute,  admiral,"  answered  Mr. 
Watson,  smihng.  "Oh,  no,  Dewey  has  too  keen  a  sense  of  justice 
for  that.  Besides,  I  remember 
him  saying  once  that  he  had  no 
use  for  substitutes. " 

' '  A  few  moments  after  this 
Mr.  Dewey  himself  came  over 
the  starboard  gangway,  saluting 
the  admiral  with  rather  a  haughty 
air.  You  see,  a  3  2 -pounder  may 
spin  merrily  past  a  fellow's  head 
aboard  a  man-o'-war  and  serve 
merely  as  a  hook  on  which  to 
hang  the  old-time  jest  about  a 
'miss  being  as  good  as  a  mile,' 
but  when  a  plain  matter-of-fact 
plebeian  tumbler  shoots  past 
you,  your  dignity  has  been  very 
violently  assulted.  The  Admiral 
looked  down  and  took  in  the 
situation.  Descending  to  the  quarter-deck,  he  approached  Dcvvey 
and  said,  with  a  friendly  air,  '  I  say,  Dewey,  did  you  ever  read 
Handy  Andy?'  'Yes,  sir, '  rather  shortly.  'Well,  now,  I  must  have 
his  cousin  aboard, '  and  the  admiral  related  the  glass  incident.  The 
two  laughed  over  the  blunder,  Mr.  Dewey  having  recovered  his  usual 
good  nature  by  this  time.  As  John  returned  with  the  glass  Mr. 
Dewey  said  severely:  'I  want  you  to  remember,  John,  that  it  is 
strictly  against  the  rules  of  the  ship  to  throw  anything  over  the  sides. 
You  came  very  near  striking  me  in  the  head  with  your  glass  toss- 
ing.'  'That  wor  a  pity,  sor. '  'A  pity!'  exclaimed  Dewey,  savagely. 
'By  Jim,  I'd  have  come  up  and  had  you  put  in  double  irons.'  '  No, 
sor,  axin'  yer  pardon,  I  hope  not.'  '  What's  that?'  roared  the  future 
admiral,  angrily.  '  Truth,  sor,  d'ye  mind  the  mornin'  tellin'  me  that 
ve  wor  to  do  the  thinkin'   an'  I  wor  to  obey  orders,  even  if  I  bruk 


ADMIRAL    DEWEY. 


GEORGE  DEWEY 

owners?'  The  two  laughed  heartily  at  this  hit,  and  John  went 
below  with  colors  flying. " 

Returning  to  the  United  States,  Dewey  was  sent  to  duty  at  the 
Kittery  Navy  Yard,  just  across  the  river  from  Portsmouth,  New 
Hampshire.  He  was  a  handsome  and  popular  fellow,  and  a  wel- 
come visitor  in  the  homes  of  the  citizens  of  Portsmouth.  Here  it 
was  that  he  met  the  young  woman  who  became  his  wife,  and 
whose  death  a  few  years  later  was  the  greatest  grief  that  has 
come  into  his  life.  She  was  the  daughter  of  Governor  Goodwin  of 
New  Hampshire,  himself  a  popular  hero  of  the  times.  "George  is 
sort  of  reckless  sometimes,"  the  governor  once  remarked,  "  but  hang 
me  if  I  can  help  liking  him.  He's  honest  and  full  of  grit,  and  he'll 
be  heard  from  one  of  these  days. " 

In  1868  and  1869  Dewey  was  detailed  for  service  at  the  Annapo- 
lis Naval  Academy' as  an  instructor,  and  at  the  end  of  that  duty  he 
obtained  command  of  the  "  Narragansett, "  which  was  nearly  all  the 
time  on  special  service  of  various  sorts  for  five  years.  His  commis- 
sion as  "commander"  came  on  April  13,  1872.  It  seemed  a  promis- 
ing, happy  year  of  his  life.  A  son  was  born  on  December  23,  but  the 
young  mother  lived  but  one  week  after  that  date.  The  child 
was  christened  George  Goodwin  Dewey.  The  father  has  never 
re-married. 

Commander  Dewey's  service  on  the  "Narragansett"  included 
an  inspection  of  torpedo  stations  and  then  some  years  in  making 
surveys  of  the  Pacific  coast.  In  1876  he  was  made  a  lighthouse 
inspector,  performing  the  duties  attached  to  such  a  post  for  two 
years,  after  which  he  became  secretary  of  the  lighthouse  board,  a 
position  which  he  filled  for  more  than  four  years.  Dewey's  first 
service  in  Asiatic  waters  was  in  1882,  when  he  was  assigned  to  the 
command  of  the  "Juniata,"  on  the  Asiatic  station.  The  events  of 
1898  proved  that  he  used  the  two  years  allott<;d  to  him  in  the  Orient 
at  that  time  to  good  advantage  by  learning  ill  that  he  could  of  the 
people  and  the  ports  of  the  West  Pacific. 

When  the  four  vessels  which  formed  the  original  "White  Squad- 
ron" were  completed,  the  smallest  of  them,  the  "Dolphin,"  was 
placed  under  the  command  of  Dewey  and  he  was  given  his  commis- 
sion as  captain   September   27,   1884.      "Itwas, "  says  a  writer  in  a 


THE  MAN   WHO    ''STEAMED  AHEAD'' 

recent  magazine,  "while  in  the  'Dolphin'  that  Captain  Dewey 
showed  how  thoroughly  he  knew  human  nature  as  well  as  the 
principles  of  good  discipline.  At  any  rate,  the  admiral  has  always 
been  noted  for  his  ability  to  deal  with  'Jack.'  The  'Jack'  in  ques- 
tion had  refused  to  obey  an  order  of  the  first  lieutenant,  because,  he 
said,  it  was  outside  the  line  of  his  duty.  The  lieutenant  reported  the 
matter  to  Captain  Dewey,  who  sauntered  out  on  deck  and  looked  his 
man  through  and  through,  which  made  the  sailor  exceedingly  uncom- 
fortable. Nevertheless,  he  remained  stubborn.  '  What, '  said  the 
captain,  'you  refuse!  Do  you  know  that  that  is  mutiny?  When 
you  entered  the  service  you  swore  to  obey  your  superior  officers.' 
The  man  was  silent  and  made  no  move,  whereupon  the  captain  very 
quietly  told  the  corporal  to  call  the  guard,  stood  the  obdurate  sailor 
on  the  far  side  of  the  deck,  and  bade  the  mariners  load.  Then  he 
took  out  his  watch.  'Now,  my  man, '  said  he,  'you  have  just  five 
minutes  in  which  to  obey  that  order, '  and  began  to  call  the  minutes. 
At  the  fourth  count  the  sailor  moved  off  with  considerable  alacrity, 
and  has  since  been  one  of  the  strongest  opponents  of  the  policy  of 
tampering  with  'the  old  man,'  as  the  admiral  has  been  for  some 
time  affectionately  called  in  the  forecastle. " 

In  1885  Captain  Dewey  was  placed  in  command  of  the  "  Pensa- 
cola,"  the  flagship  of  the  Europern  squadron,  remaining  on  that 
station  for  three  years.  In  this  time  he  visited  all  the  principal 
European  ports,  and  gained  familiarity  with  many  of  the  European 
naval  conditions,  officers  and  fleets.  A  blue-jacket  who  made  a 
cruise  with  him  tells  this  characteristic  story:  "We  hadn't  been  to 
sea  with  him  long  before  we  knew  how  he  despised  a  liar.  One  of 
the  petty  officers  went  ashore  at  Gibraltar,  and  came  off  to  the  ship 
drunk.  He  appeared  the  next  morning  and  gave  Dewey  the  '  two- 
beers  and  sun-struck '  yarn. 

' '  '  You're  lying,  my  man, '  said  Dewey.  '  You  were  very  drunk. 
I  myself  heard  you  aft  in  my  cabin.  I  will  not  have  my  men  lie  to 
me.  I  don't  expect  to  find  total  abstinence  in  a  man-o'-war  crew. 
But  I  do  expect  them  to  tell  me  the  truth,  and  I  am  going  to  have 
them  tell  me  the  truth.  For  lying  you  get  ten  days  in  irons.  Let  me 
have  the  truth  hereafter.  I  am  told  you  are  a  good  seaman.  A 
good  seaman  has  no  business  lying. '     After  that  there  were  few  men 


GEORGE  DEWEY 


aboard  who  didn't  throw  themselves  on  the  mercy  of  the  court  when 
they  came  before  Dewey,  and  no  one  ever  lost  anything  by  it." 

In  1889,  Captain  Dewey  was  made  chief  of  the  Bureau  of  Equip- 
ment and  Recruiting,  with  rank  of  commodore.      Four  years  later  he 
was  made  a  member  of  the  Lighthouse  Board,  of  which  he 
'^^•^^      had  been  secretary  in  1877.      In  1896  he  got  his  com- 
mission as  commodore  and  was  made  president  of 
the  Board  of  Inspection    and  Survey.      This  is 
the  place  that  he  held  when  or- 
dered to  sea   duty  in   the   late 
fall  of   1897,  with  instructions  to 
assume    command    of    the    Asiatic 
station,  where  he  hoisted  his 
flag  on  the  ' '  Olympia  "  on 
January    3,    1898.      Shortly 
stroyed  the  '  'Maine,"  Com- 
t  o      concentrate      the 
Accordingly  the  fiag- 
"  Raleigh,"     and 
boat  "  Petrel,"  as- 
fore     the    middle  of 


:  111.   - 


after  the  explosion  that  de- 
modore  Dewey  received  orders 
Asiatic  squadron  at  Hong  Kong 
ship  "  Olympia, "  the  "Boston,  "the 
the  "  Concord, "  cruisers,  and  the  gun 
sembled  in  the  harbor  of  Hong  Kong  be 
March,  1898.  Commodore  Dewey  was  too  well  versed  in  all  the 
technical  questions  involved  to  have  any  doubt  about  the  real  cause 
of  the  explosion.  He  made  all  his  plans  upon  the  probability  that 
there  would  be  war  between  the  United  States  and  Spain.  To  be 
ready  for  that  emergency  he  made  every  preparation  that  skill  and 
experience  could  suggest.  His  ships  were  docked,  that  their  bottoms 
might  be  cleaned;  their  bunkers  were  kept  filled  with  coal;  provisions 
were  ordered  in  ample  quantities,  so  that  they  might  leave  port  at 
any  time  with  supplies  sufficient  to  feed  the  crews  for  three  months, 
and  every 
piece  of 
m  e  c  h  a  n  - 
ism,  wheth- 
er  in    the 

prop  elling         sword  and  belt  presented  to  admiral  dewey 
mac  hinery  by  congress. 


777^  MAN   WHO    ''STEAMED   AHEAD'' 

or  at  the  guns,  was  overhauled  and  put  in  complete  order  for  effective 
and  continuous  work. 

How  thoroughly  he  made  his  preparations  may  he  understood 
by  a  comparison  of  the  dates  of  his  movements.  War  was  declared 
on  Monday,  April  25th,  and  on  Wednesday,  April  27th,  he  sailed  for 
Manila.  Dewey's  orders  when  he  sailed  for  Manila  were  brief 
but  explicit.  He  was  instructed  to  proceed  to  the  Philippine  Islands 
and  do  his  utmost  to  ' '  capture  or  destroy  the  Spanish  naval  force  "  in 
those  waters.  During  the  battle  he  kept  those  orders  so  literally  in 
mind  that  he  refused  to  turn  any  of  his  fire  upon  the  shore  batteries. 
"We'll  sink  the  ships  first,"  he  said,  " and  then  we'll  finish  off  the 
shore  guns."  When  the  fleet  arrived  off  Subig  Bay  the  final  prepa- 
rations for  battle  were  made.  All  woodwork  that  could  be 
removed  without  injury  to  the  working  of  the  vessels  was  thrown 
overboard;  tables,  chairs,  doors  and  bulkheads  were  pitched  into  the 
sea.  In  fact,  the  seamen  were  glad  to  get  rid  of  everything  that 
might  endanger  their  lives  by  fire.  In  the  "  Olympia"  the  men  had 
a  number  of  board  tables,  made  to  swing  from  the  beams  above  the 
berth  deck,  upon  which  they  served  their  meals.  The  executive  officer 
gave  an  order  that  these  mess-tables  should  be  "put  over  the  side," 
meaning  that  they  should  be  hung  outside  the  ship  by  ropes  in  a 
position  where,  even  if  they  should  catch  on  fire,  they  would 
endanger  nothing  else.  But  the  seamen  chose  to  interpret  the  order 
to  mean  that  the  tables  should  go  overboard,  and  the  result  was 
that,  after  the  battle,  the  jackies  had  to  eat  either  standing  or  lying 
down,  since  they  had  no  tables. 

A  few  miles  north  of  the  entrance  to  Manila  Bay,  Dewey  stopped 
his  flaghip  and  made  signal  for  the  commanding  officers  to  repair  on 
board.  The  war  council  was  of  short  duration.  Commodore  Dewey 
had  decided  on  his  plans  before  it  met,  and  he  took  little  time  in 
giving  to  each  captain  his  duties  for  the  night  and  next  day. 

The  Commodore  decided  to  waste  no  time  in  useless  delay  ;  but, 
regardless  of  hidden  mines  and  shore  batteries,  led  the  way  into  the 
harbor.  With  all  lights  out,  and  the  crews  at  the  guns,  the  warships 
in  their  gray  war  paint  turned  silently  toward  the  entrance  to  the 
bay,  the  flagship  ' '  Olympia"  leading.  Following  closely,  in  the 
order  that  was  retained   during  the    battle,  came  the   "Baltimore," 


GEORGE  DEWEY 

the  "Raleigh,"  the  "Petrel,"  the  "Concord,"  and  the  "Boston." 
As  the  fleet  approached  the  entrance  it  moved  as  slowly  as  was  com- 
patible with  keeping  the  formation  of  the  line.  Half  of  the  crew  of 
each  gun  were  allowed  to  sleep  alongside  their  stations  in  order  that 
they  might  be  better  fitted  for  what  was  to  come.  Except  for  the 
sleepless  eye  on  the  bridge  of  the  "Olympia, "  and  the  alert  gaze  of 
the  officers  on  watch,  the  ships  seemed  to  slumber,  as  did  the  city 
and  the  forts. 

On,  on,  crept  the  mighty  engines  of  war,  but  the  batteries  on 
shore  gave  no  sign.  Suddenly,  when  the  flagship  had  passed  a  mile 
beyond  Corregidor  Island,  a  gun  boomed  out,  and  a  shell  went 
screaming  over  the  "Raleigh"  and  the  "Olympia,"  soon  followed  by 
a  second.  Three  ships,  the  "Raleigh,"  the  "Concord,"  and  the 
"Boston, "  replied,  apparently  with  effect,  for  the  firing  ceased,  and 
again  the  batteries  lay  silent.  As  Commodore  Dewey  had  planned, 
the  fleet  arrived  within  five  miles  of  Manila  at  daybreak.  What 
must  have  been  the  astonishment  in  the  Spanish  lines  when  the  sun 
rose,  and  they  looked  out  on  the  American  ships  that  had  come  in 
during  the  night!  With  the  American  flag  flying  from  all  mastheads, 
the  ships  moved  on.  No  excitement  was  visible  ;  the  quiet  man  on 
the  bridge  of  the  "Olympia"  was  as  unmoved,  apparently,  as  though 
he  were  sailing  into  a  peaceful  harbor.  For  the  first  time  in  many 
years  the  stars  and  stripes  were  being  borne  aggressively  into  a 
foreign  port.  It  was  an  epoch  in  history.  Nineteenth  century 
civilization  and  fifteenth  century  mediaevalism  lay  confronting  each 
other. 

As  he  approached,  all  the  Spanish  vessels  were  aflame  with  rapid 
gun  fire.  Shell  after  shell  flew  close  over  the  superstructure  or 
skimmed  past  the  head  of  the  commodore  and  his  staff  on  the  for- 
ward bridge.  Still  the  commodore  made  no  sign.  In  the  usual 
service  white  uniform,  wearing,  however,  a  gray  traveling  cap  on  his 
head,  having  been  unable  to  find  his  uniform  cap  after  the  guns  in 
his  cabin  had  been  cleared  for  action,  the  commodore  paced  the 
bridge,  watching  the  enemy's  hot  fire  as  if  he  were  a  disinterested 
spectator  of  an  unusual  display  of  fireworks.  All  this  time,  with  the 
exception  of  the  shots  from  the  Concord,  the  guns  of  the  American 
fleet  had  remained   inactive.      The  strain  on  the  men  was  fearful 


THE  MAN  WHO    ''STEAMED   A  HE  AH' 

but  they  had  confidence  in  their  commodore.  The  heat  was  intense, 
and  stripped  of  all  clothing  except  their  trousers,  the  gunners  stood 
silent  and  obedient  at  their  posts.  The  Olympia  might  have  been 
empty  if  the  whirr  of  the  blowers  and  the  throb  of  the  engines  had 
not  told  of  pulsating  human  life.  On  the  forward  bridge  of  the 
Olympia  stood  Commodore  Dewey,  surrounded  by  his  staff.  In  this 
little  group  were  Commander  Lamberton,  fleet  captain;  the  executive 
officer,  Lieutenant  Rees;  Lieutenant  Calkins,  and  Mr.  Joseph  L. 
Stickney,  the  commodore's  aide. 

Suddenly  a  shell  burst  directly  over  the  center  of  the  ship.  As 
the  projectile  flashed  over  the  head  of  the  man  who  held  the  destiny 
of  the  fleet  in  his  grasp,  it  became  evident  that  the  moment  of 
activity  had  come.  ' '  You  may  fire  when  you  are  ready,  Captain 
Gridley,"  said  the  Commodore.  This  order  sufficed,  and  at  5:41 
o'clock  in  the  morning,  at  a  distance  of  three  miles,  America  roared 
forth  her  first  battle  cry  to  Spain  from  the  starboard  8-inch  gun  in 
the  forward  turret  of  the  Olympia.  The  story  of  the  battle  need  not 
be  told  here.  It  is  known  to  every  one  as  the  most  remarkable  naval 
battle  of  all  time.  The  Spanish  fleet  was  destroyed;  Dewey  had 
obeyed  orders.  Although  the  Spanish  fleet  was  destroyed  on  May  i, 
yet  it  was  not  until  August  that  the  city  of  Manila  surrendered  to 
the  United  States.  During  this  period  the  Commodore  refrained 
from  bombarding  the  city,  though  greatly  provoked. 

When  the  victory  of  Manila  bay  fully  dawned  upon  the  minds  of 
the  American  people,  there  was  a  unanimous  call  for  some  prompt  and 
official  recognition  for  George  Dewey  and  his  gallant  associates. 
President  McKinley,  in  a  special  message  to  Congress,  recommended 
that  Dewey  and  his  brave  men  receive  the  thanks  of  that  body. 
The  suggestion  was  enthusiastically  acted  upon,  but  his  honors  did 
not  stop  here.  The  number  of  rear-admirals  in  the  navy  was 
increased  from  six  to  seven  by  Congress,  and  the  President  at  once 
promoted  Dewey  to  that  rank.  The  Senate  also  proposed  that  a 
jeweled  sword  be  given  Dewey  for  his  services  and  that  a  bronze 
medal  be  given  each  of  his  men,  and  appropriated  |i 0,000  for  this 
purpose.  A  most  elaborately  decorated  sword  was  prepared,  and  with 
the  resolutions  of  Congress  most  handsomely  embossed  was  pre- 
sented him,  accompanied  by  a  letter  from  the  Department  of  State, 


GEORGE  DEWEY 

commending  him  for  his  good  judgment  and  prudence  in  directing 
affairs  at  Manila  after  the  battle. 

Congress  in  December,  1898,  passed  a  bill  reviving  the  grade  of 
Admiral,  which  the  President  gladly  signed  and  in  accordance  there- 
with commissioned  Dewey  as  admiral.  No  greater  honors  can  be 
shown  him.  He  is  to-day  the  cherished  idol  of  a  nation,  occupying 
the  summit  of  glory  and  renown,  the  recipient  of  honors  and 
plaudits  from  every  nation,  yet  the  same  cool,  just,  courageous,  loyal 
and  obedient  servant  of  the  nation  that  he  has  been  for  many  years. 
How  well  the  people  love  him  is  attested  by  the  magnificent  ovation 
tendered  him  on  his  return  home.  All  honor  to  Admiral  Dewey! 
May  the  closing  years  of  his  life  be  full  of  peace  and  joy,  and  may 
his  example  inspire  our  youth. 


(Cop>  righted,  1899.  by  Joseph  L.  Stickney.) 

AFTER   DEWEY'S   GUNS    FIRED. 


w^ 


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